Vampire Vacation
by not done baking
Summary: The Glass House gang heads out to California. Sun, sand, surf and-vampires? Claire just wanted a nice break from Morganville and some summer sun with Shane, but that isn't what she's getting because things seem to be on the brink with Shane.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Had this idea for awhile and I knew I had to get it out before _Kiss of Death_ comes out. I'm hoping the plots aren't too similar. Enjoy and review! 

**Vampire Vacation**

**Chapter 1**

Seventeen-year-old Claire was standing in the doorway of the Glass House after getting back from her parents place. Eve was painting her nails a charcoal grey, her drying toes propped up on Michael's legs while he wrote on a half blank sheet of sheet music. Shane was absorbed in a handheld game, vigorously moving from side to side with each click of the button. Things had been quiet in Morganville since Bishop's reign had come to a halt two months ago. Even though eight weeks had passed, seeing so much normality after so much crazy was an odd sight for Claire.

She stood in the archway and watched the three people she had laughed beside and fought beside over the past few months. It wasn't that she hadn't had friends at her high school, it was that she had never felt so accepted before. The fact that Morganville, Home of the Vampire, was the place where she was accepted was beside the point. Her friends were wrapped up in their activities and hadn't seen or heard her walk in, but she was fine with the momentary invisibility, it let her relish the moment. After some time, she dropped her bag with a thud on the ground.

Eve jumped and glared at her for messing up the mani job. Michael smiled at her, he probably knew she was there the entire time with his vampire sense and all. Shane paused his game and tossed it on the table when he saw her standing there. She smiled at her friends. It was a sad smile, she didn't really know how to broach the topic.

Ever since Bishop took his vacation things had been light hearted and jovial at the Glass House, and even down right pleasant around all of Morganville. So, when her friends saw her broken smile they knew something was wrong.

Shane got up from his chair and placed his hands on her shoulders. His jaw was clenching shut, there was that controlled fear in his eyes that Claire hadn't seen in almost two months. "What's wrong?" He moved a hand up to cup her cheek, it felt so personal and intimate Claire was almost embarrassed to be in front of Eve and Michael right then, even so Claire leaned into the touch. It was so warm and comforting, like a fire when the power went out during a winter storm. Shane's eyes were deep and clear. Claire wasn't sure how but looking into them, looking at Shane, feeling his touch—it made her feel like things would be okay.

"Could we go sit down in the living room?"

"Claire, are you okay?" Michael and Eve both asked while getting up.

"I don't know," was all she could say at the moment.

Shane sat down on the couch and Claire sat down next to him, drawing her legs into her chest and wrapping her arms around them but not leaning into Shane. She appreciated his touch and his warmth, but her emotions were too crazy right now to invoke the ones Shane did when he held her in his arms.

"Um, is it all right if I stay here for the week?" Claire looked at Michael, everyone in the house had stressed that the empty room upstairs was still hers. Claire wasn't sure if things had changed, even though her parents house was mostly just the place where she slept and had the odd meal the school library had been her home for the past two weeks during her midterms.

"Of course, Claire. You're always welcome here, mi casa es su casa."

"Thanks. My parents are going out of town for the week, to California. I'll be following them on Friday. They already have permission."

Shane's face went blank and Eve's mouth went in to a fine, little black 'o'. "You're moving?"

"No! Amelie will probably never let me out of here; Myrnin wouldn't stand for it. Uhm…" Finally tired of beating around the bush, Claire just let the story spill out, not really caring out it came out.

_Three hours earlier._

"Sweetie," Claire's mom called from the living room of their house. She had just finished her shift of working with Myrnin and was exhausted and desperate to get a shower to wash the grime off of herself. There was nothing like working in the lab to make her feel gross. Myrnin had done a fine job of cleaning up the damage his lab had sustained, but that didn't stop the dust and harmless (hopefully) chemicals from getting on her skin and clothes.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"You're father and I need to talk to you."

Claire walked into the living room to find her parents sitting on the couch. Her mother's eyes were red and puffy and there as a tissue in her hand and plenty of used ones on the table, her father's arm was around her mother's shoulder. Claire frowned, she didn't want any more turmoil for her parents right now. Really, she didn't even want them to stay in Morganville but Amelie refused to let them go. Claire knew that, along with her friends, her parents were great things to hold over her if or when Amelie needed something done.

"Your grand-nana, in California…" her father spoke for the first time and her mother leaned into his shoulder. Grand-nana was her mother's grandmother, she lived in California and Claire had only visited her once. She wasn't close to her at all, but her mother had been. "Grand-nana has been very sick for the past few days, she caught the flu and it turned in to pneumonia. She passed away last night."

Her mother started crying again and Claire moved over to her other side to console her.

"Oh, Mom! I'm so sorry!"

"No, Claire! I'm sorry! I wish that I had made sure you had seen her more. I wish that you had a relationship with her. You and her were so much alike, of course, she wasn't really allowed to get much of an education because her father was so conservative but—" she started wailing again.

Claire's father spoke up again, "Your mother and I will be flying out to California to help make arrangements. You'll follow next weekend, when the funeral will take place."

Claire nodded. She felt bad for her mom, she really did, but she didn't miss the key detail here. Claire would be out from under her parents' thumb for a whole week. But, did that mean…

"Wait, that means you have permission to leave? Leave Morganville… Mom, Dad," she turned towards each of them, "forget about me, just stay in California. You have the chance to leave, you should take it!"

"Claire," her father was stern when he spoke, "we couldn't do that to you. Besides, you can't live by yourself—or anywhere without us!—until you're 18. We are trusting you just this once by yourself. I know we had decided on dorms, but," he tried to edge around the word vampire, "circumstances are different now. I'll be talking with your friend Eve and that Michael, I trust them and I'm going to make sure they keep an eye on you. I don't need you making any rash decisions while I'm gone."

Claire wanted to argue. She wanted to stand up to what her father was implying. It wasn't the time, however, so she remained silent but nodded her head in agreement.

"You're mother needs to rest right now and I need to start on travel arrangements, perhaps you can have dinner at your friends' house tonight?"

Claire did her best to not sound excited when she agreed. It wasn't that she heartless, she barely knew the woman and of course she was sad for her mother… but alone time with Shane was few and far between these days that it would be unwise to not rejoice at the opportunity.

_Present time…_

"Oh, Claire Bear!" Eve was the first to get up and hug her, Shane tightened his grip on her and Michael sat on the coffee table in front of her.

"Thanks you guys. I'm actually… I'm actually kind of okay. I wasn't close to her. The last time I saw I was probably seven or so, she was really old then. She had to be close to ancient now. It's just… weird, ya know? In the midst of all this immortality and death by murder and revenge… it's so easy to think this is how it is everywhere. I know you forget about Morganville when you leave, but Morganville can make you forget about the outside world. At least until you sit down."

"I wouldn't wish immortality on anyone," Michael said as if he was consoling me.

"I know. It doesn't appear glamorous. I wouldn't want to live forever. I'm just surprised. We fight evil vampires and life goes on out there."

The four sat quietly for a while before Claire stood up, "I think I'm going to get some sleep." She went into the hallway and picked up her small duffle and headed to her room.

Before going to sleep, Claire hatched a plan.

**AN: **I haven't written third person in years. Please forgive me. Reviews are like cookies for me, feel free to share the love.

Peace and love, Sammie


	2. Chapter 2

**Vampire Vacation**

**Chapter 2**

When Claire woke up the next morning to the quiet house she carefully got ready for the day and snuck out the front door. She left a note on the table—_out for the day, love C_—and headed in to the bright and safe sun. In Morganville when it came to freckles or ravenous vampires (never mind the new laws) you took the freckles.

Claire knew she needed a break. Going to California for the funeral could provide a small relief from the stress, but what Claire really wanted was a vacation. If you were a higher up in Morganville (meaning you were needed) but you lacked the power and influence _vacation_ was a foreign word. When Eve had visited Claire at her parent's house she had found a pile of photo albums and scrapbooks Claire's mom had put together. Eve had insisted on looking through them, it was then that she mentioned the scarcity of vacations. Sure the Morell's had traveled the world, but Eve had never stepped foot outside of Morganville.

"Probably never will. Morganville; where you're born, raised and die."

So, this was her chance. Claire's chance, Eve's chance, Shane's chance (his escape from Morganville after his sister's death hardly counted as a vacation) and hopefully, if Claire could figure out the logistics, even Michael's chance. Fingers crossed. Now Claire just had to figure out whom to ask first. She had to ask Amelie for permission, but she had to ask Myrnin and maybe even Ada about letting them leave Morganville without the car breaking down or their memories disappearing. This was worse than when she was trying to figure out which parent was going to say yes to something.

Claire had thought about asking Myrnin to let Ada wipe their memory when they left the Morganville town limits. It would be fairly simple. She could slip some urgent message in her bag telling them to head back to Morganville after a week. They would go back, their memories would be restored and all would be well. It would be one hell of a vacation. But, Claire wasn't sure of the specifics. Would she still have her friendships with Eve and Michael? Would she still have her relationship with Shane? It wasn't worth risking it.

Claire had walked all the way downtown without making a decision. She'd need a portal to see Amelie and Myrnin was only a few blocks away, Myrnin had a portal. If Amelie said no Claire would probably earn her self a lecture about "not knowing her place/responsibilities." If she said yes, then things were clear. Unless Myrnin said no. If Myrnin said no, Amelie's answer didn't matter. Myrnin's answer was the deciding factor. So it was off to the midnight alley she went.

*

It was getting warmer in Morganville, now that summer was creeping up on them. Claire had worked up a fine sweat on her way to Myrnin's and she was wishing she had remembered to bring some water. Her stomach was twisted in knots when she arrived to her destination but she was still thankful for the shade. She knocked on Myrnin's door, she knew there was a chance that he would be sleeping. Maybe hidden away somewhere, dark and cold. Maybe even hanging upside down. That would be fitting for someone as creepy as Myrnin. Creepy as he was though Claire needed his help right then. "Myrnin!" She began to pound on the door when he didn't answer. After a few minutes she placed her sore hand on the cold knob, it wasn't like Myrnin was one to hold everyone to proper standards. Walking in to a vampires house without being invited was probably a big no-no in someone's book, but Claire didn't particularly care. She twisted the knob and the door creaked open.

She walked in to the clean workroom and as she had assumed Myrnin was not there. She lifted up the rug that covered the trap door that led to Ada, but the door was locked. Claire looked around the small alcove; it was extension of the lab. There was the door that led to the portals, but there was also a door on the other side that Claire had never noticed before. There was a coat rack next to the wall near it and it _clicked_. The coat rack had always covered the door before. Perhaps an attempt to hide his sleeping location, just because Myrnin was no longer sick didn't mean he wasn't crazy.

She tried the door and it too was locked. She pounded on the door until Myrnin opened the door looking groggy and cranky. _Perhaps I should have brought some blood_, Claire thought. Coming unarmed to wake up a sleeping vampire seemed like a pretty stupid idea. "Claire," he growled.

"I need your help, Mynin. I wouldn't wake you up if it wasn't important." Okay, so it wasn't world-ending trouble, but it was important to Claire and after working so hard to make life livable again in Morganville she was owed a little favor.

"Why is it that trouble follows you, Claire?" He looked less willing to eat her but that didn't really comfort Claire. Despite the cure for the vampire disease being well circulated through his system Claire wasn't too confident that the old Myrnin wouldn't come back. Although, maybe the healthy Myrnin was just as crazy as the ill one.

"Oh, I am not in trouble," she corrected.

"Then why are you here, Claire?"

"I need you help. Well, I need a favor." Claire knew there was a difference. If she needed help Myrnin would be more likely to help her in order to stay in the good graces of Amelie, if she needed a favor, well, Myrnin wasn't really a charitable vampire.

"I'm not sure you are in the position to ask for favors," he turned around and busied him self with some books that he had received earlier in the week. Claire was supposed to catalog them later in the week.

"Don't you think that after everything I've done I deserve one little favor?"

"You don't deserve favors, you earn them."

"Haven't I earned at least one?" Claire insisted. "I've helped you so much, when I really didn't have to!"

"Don't raise your voice at me, Claire, just because you are a child doesn't mean you need to act like one. Let alone a petulant one."

Claire took a deep breath and tried to calm down, the longer this went on the more likely it was that Myrnin would say no to her question. "I'm sorry, Myrnin. I just think that after everything it wouldn't be a terrible idea to—to—" Claire stumbled, not really wanting to say anything else. She didn't want to sound greedy.

"To owe you something? Claire, you are under the impression that you live in Morganville freely. That is not the case and despite the recent changes," Myrnin looked at the stake sticking out from her bag, she nudged it further in to her bag with her elbow, "we still hold power over the humans here. You work for me, you stay alive, that's all you are owed. Don't you think you're life is a good enough favor for me to give?"

_ You only keep me alive cause you need me_, Claire thought. She didn't say it out loud incase her sass got her current state of being needed quickly reevaluated. Claire shook her head to clear it; it was now or never. She straightened her shoulders and squared her jaw, "Can I just ask?" she spoke very calmly. She had read in one of her psych books that being calm helped others be calm. She just hoped that played out with vampires.

He flipped his hand dismissively. "Go ahead."

"My friends and I want a spring break," she let out in one quick breath.

"Claire, need I remind you that you are the only one who goes to school? Only one of your friends work am I right?"

"Shane just got a job," she shouted then faltered, "at Bryan's Barbeque."

"And what a prestigious job that is!"

Claire didn't say anything back to that, it really wasn't worth it… and Myrnin's jab was kind of the truth, but Morganville wasn't budding with new career opportunities and it wasn't really a great commuter location.

"My friends and I want a spring break, in California. I'm being allowed to go out there for a weekend for my great-grandmother's funeral. All I ask is for an extra week and a week for my friends."

"I'm not sure I'm the one to be asked, Claire."

"Well, see I need you to work it out with Ada. When we cross the border I don't want to lose my memory or have the car break down— or die. I know I need to ask Amelie for permission, but if I got permission from her and not from you then it would all be pointless. And," she added, "I don't want to waste Amelie's time."

"That's very considerate of you."

"If you say no, then I don't have to bother Amelie at all."

Myrnin was silent, contemplating. He took his small glasses off and cleaned them on the hem of his shirt. Then he reorganized some books. Claire could remember Christmas Eves less painful than this, waiting for Santa was far less aggravating than waiting for Myrnin to decide her fate.

He sighed and looked down at her, "If Amelie agrees to this _scheme_," he said it like a dirty word," than I shall make some deal with Ada."

Claire's jaw almost dropped. While she had been going in to this with an open and positive mind she hadn't been exactly hopeful of a positive outcome.

"This is where you say thank you, or did you parents not let you watch those educational television shows that are all the rage for this generation?"

Claire stuttered, "Thank you! Really thank, this means so much. I will work overtime once I get back to make it up to you. Whatever you need," she was smiling at the still Myrnin. Claire ran up and wrapped her arms around Myrnin tightly before pulling back and realizing what she had done.

"Don't make me rethink my decision, Claire. Also, I thought this was a favor I already owed you, that would mean you didn't have to do any extra work for me," he raised an eyebrow, giving her time to take back her offer.

"Right," she smiled and felt almost all the nervous tension leave her body.

"You do still have to go ask Amelie," Myrnin reminded her nonchalantly. Claire had been hesitant about asking Myrnin, but she was nearly terrified of asking Amelie. She had already been given time off while the community got its act back together after the Bishop ordeal; she really wasn't in the place to ask for more time off. She was really pushing it. Nervously, Claire pushed her fingers through the almost long strands of her dark hair. "You can use the portal," he sounded almost happy, entertained, when he said this. This did not make Claire hopeful in the very least.

She smiled weakly, "Thanks," she mumbled as she opened the door that could lead to various parts of town. Repeating the procedure that Myrnin had carefully taught her she stepped through and landed in the building that housed Amelie's office. Claire walked down the hall and knocked on the door. "Please come in," Amelie's clear voice sounded a bit agitated and the natural instinct to retreat fled through Claire. If there was one thing you learned in Morganville and followed to a tee it was that you never asked anything from an irritated vampire, and if it could be avoided you never asked anything from a vampire. Even asking for protection came with consequences.

Claire looked down at the bracelet that tied her to Amelie, the magic was being worked around to allow her to go to the funeral. If the magic worked like Claire thought it did, through some sort of computer like Ada, then surely it wouldn't be too hard to add a few more days to it. It would have been just a simple calculation. Her friends weren't even tied to a vampire, she just needed to make sure none of them would lose their memories of the place. Not that it wasn't desirable, but Claire knew that they were needed here and that they would be hard pressed to get free from Morganville now that they were so delicately tied in to it's future. There was something nice about knowing that you were needed somewhere, but sometimes Claire really regretted it.

Claire stepped in to the office and faced Amelie. The office was pristine as usual, but as for Amelie… she had definitely seen better days. She still looked regal in her all white business outfit and her pale blonde hair tied up in a tight chignon, but there was something about her pale face. Her eyes. They looked sad, almost dead. Claire felt bad for her; it hadn't been that long since Sam had given his life for her. But consoling Amelie was near impossible and not exactly on the agenda. Claire was certain if she said any words of regret or condolence she would be quickly dismissed and her entire meeting with Myrnin would be moot.

"Claire, what do you need?" Amelie got straight to the point.

**AN: reviews are love, is there something I could do to motivate you? cookies, popsicles, **_**quotes?**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Vampire Vacation**

**Chapter 3**

And so did Claire, "My friends and I want a vacation," she spoke clearly and loudly even though her confidence was completely false. "I'm going to California and I want to take my friends with me. I want to stay for a week. I need to be able to safely cross the border, I don't want the car breaking down, I don't want to be attacked by vampires and I don't want to lose my memory. You don't need to worry about me not coming back, I will. My parents are here now," she tried not to scoff, but risked saying, "you made sure of that." She noted Amelie's look of disdain. The second thing you learned when you lived in Morganville was to not upset a vampire when you were asking for a favor. "My school's here too and I need to finish up here before I go elsewhere," although, if Claire was truthful with herself, there was a high probability that she wasn't going anywhere for quite some time. Amelie was probably going to make sure of that as well. "My friends are here, they've lived here their entire lives. I don't think you'll let them leave the town and I don't intend on leaving them. I don't know what my future really holds, but I want my friends to be in it. All I'm asking is one week, one week of freedom and fun on the beach, we'll return promptly once the week is over. I'll be back here to do whatever you need."

"Claire, the idea is nice and understandable. I can remember wanting to get out and see the world when I was your age," she looked down at her desk, perhaps remembering an easier time in her life. "You have to realize the risk I would be taking if I let you leave this town. How do I know you would not tell anyone of this town's secrets?"

"Who would believe me?" Claire said shortly, instantly regretting the slip of the tongue.

Amelie looked at her, her eyes almost alive and looking quite wistful of the earlier days she was remembering. "Young Claire, you would be surprised of what some people would believe. All it takes is you slipping up and telling one person. They tell a few people, who tell a few people, who tell a few people. Soon thousands of people have heard of this town and if only a few hundred believe and decide to check it out then you have tipped the precarious balance this town lives in. I can't risk that."

Claire felt her heart get heavy. This was not going the way she wanted at all. Desperate she asked, "Isn't there anything I can do to prove that I wouldn't do that? I know my word means nothing, but there has to be something," she bit her lip. "I'll do anything." She quickly covered her mouth, eyes wide in shock. She didn't mean that. Those were dangerous words when said to a vampire.

Amelie sat quietly for a while, her hands calmly clasped together. It was one of her many talents, being able to look calm and regal under any situation. Claire had rarely ever seen her express any dramatic emotion. "I suppose something could be arranged," she said finally, Claire dropped her hands and felt like she could breathe again, "if you are willing to lose a little blood."

"It's Morganville, what's a little blood here and there," Claire groaned quietly, she hadn't meant to say that out loud either.

"I'll ignore that. Please come see me after your classes, I'll speak to you again then. You may leave." Claire turned to go, " Oh, and Claire," she turned and faced Amelie again, "please refrain from using the portals from now on. They were made for emergencies, not public transportation. I do not want you to abuse the knowledge I have let you obtain." Claire nodded, said sorry and quickly left the office and the city building. Claire wasn't too surprised that such a simple statement could feel like such a chastisement. She looked down at her watch, she had twenty minutes to get to the other side of the town in order to get to class on time. She was pretty sure she could make it, she was more worried about the class going by quickly. Nervous energy filled her again as she made her way through the almost empty streets of the town.

Claire took the most rigorous notes she had taken in a long time in order to keep her mind occupied, she had almost copied the lecture down verbatim until her wrist started to cramp up. It wasn't the first time in her academic life that she had wished she was ambidextrous. She quickly shoved her books and notebooks in her bag and made her way back across town to Amelie's office. _Maybe Morganville_ should_ have a public transit system_, she thought. Her feet were starting to hurt from all the walking she was doing today, and her back certainly wasn't thanking her either.

For the second time that day she knocked on Amelie's door and she was let in. Her desk was clean of the paperwork from earlier except for one piece of parchment and what appeared to be a letter opener.

"Good evening, Claire. I'll be brief as not to keep you, despite what you all are starting to think now, Morganville humans are not completely safe when the sun goes down," Amelie looked cool, calm and collected. Her hair was still in the tight bun and her clothes were crisp and clean. Claire had tied her hair in to a knot when she was standing in line for lunch and then had dropped the ranch dressing down her top. After hundreds of years though, it probably wasn't too hard to learn how to be so composed all of the time. "I have written up a contract, a promise," she gestured to the parchment, which looked kind of aged to have been written up in the past few hours. "It says that you will not tell anyone of the Morganville vampires and that you will return to Morganville by next Sunday at midnight. That gives you nine days, which should be plenty of time. If you break this contract you will be punished and I will not be lenient. Even if you slip and tell someone you will be punished," she stressed this point. Amelie passed Claire the parchment, the contract was clear with no loopholes she could see.

"What if I'm late coming home? What if we miss the flight or it's delayed?"

"You will be escorted to the airport and I will allow the use of our private jet," she had an answer to everything.

"You have a private jet?" Claire was astounded, she wasn't aware that Amelie was such an avid traveler that she acquired her own jet.

"Yes," Amelie looked like Claire had been surprised at her use of indoor plumbing. "I prefer not to expose myself to the sun and I do not wish to have to plan around some airline's schedule. In case you have forgotten," she sounded a little demeaning, "you will be traveling with a vampire, it is important that you avoid the sun. Have you not thought about this?"

"Of course! Of course I thought of this!" Claire hadn't really, but she still had a few more days to plan. "So, where do I sign?" Claire took the seat in front of Amelie's desk. Sure, the contract was strict but since she didn't plan on putting an ad out in the paper about the vampire status of the town, she wasn't worried about signing it.

"You do not sign. I said that in order for you to accept this deal you would need to be willing to let a little blood," he slim white hand touched the letter opener.

"I thought you were joking," Claire pushed her bangs out of her eyes and behind her ears.

"I do not joke, Claire," she reminded her. "This contract," she pushed the paper towards her again, "will be signed in blood."

"My blood?"

"Yes," again Amelie looked at her like she was an idiot. "Are you still willing to sign?"

Claire looked down at her hands in her lap. She thought about what her friends would say about this, they would say she had gone too far and that she didn't have to do this for them. Shane would be upset, Michael and Eve would probably both agree that she was being an immature teen again. But Claire wasn't an immature teen, she was a responsible almost adult who could make important decisions all by herself. At least, she tried to convince herself of that most days.

She held up her left hand to Amelie, the pale blue vein was obvious against her fair skin, the only mar in it coming from the silver bracelet that kept her protected. Amelie lifted up the letter opener; now that Claire could see it better she saw that it was a knife. She gulped and prepared herself for the pain. Amelie grabbed her hand, pulled her over the paper and ran the sharp knife quickly against her wrist. Claire gasped, the pain was cold and shot up her wrist. The cut was thin but long and the blood puddled on the paper. It distracted Claire; the paper seemed to contain some sort of magic. It soaked the blood up and left only a dark stain in its place. Amelie let her hand go when the dripping stopped, she handed Claire a tissue. Claire pressed it tightly to the thin wound, wondering what she was going to tell her friends when they saw it.

"You may go," Amelie picked the paper up and put it in a file in the cabinet. _I have my own file?_

"That's it?" Claire asked, surprised it was that easy.

"Yes, I will send you a letter detailing when the plane will be taking off. You would like to leave Friday, correct?"

"Yeah," Claire nodded and grabbed her backpack with her right hand. Her left hand felt a little achy.

"You may go," she said again. This time Claire followed her instruction and quickly made her way home.

Shane was just setting dinner on the table when Claire opened the door. When he saw her he finished putting the plates down and went over to her. "Long day?" he asked, he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her over. She must have looked pretty awful for Shane to ask.

"You could say that," she stood on her toes, waiting for a kiss. Shane obliged and leaned down to kiss her. Claire carefully wrapped her arms around him, avoiding bumping her injured arm in to him. Shane pulled the scrunchie out of her hair, his hands felt amazing running through her hair.

The kitchen door slammed shut, "It's getting cold," Eve said. Shane and Claire pulled away from each other, smiling. Claire felt better already.

"Not really," Shane whispered, Claire would have melted into a puddle if she could have. Shane kissed her forehead. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I am. Just a long day, but worth it," she toyed with the collar of his shirt. He smelled like barbeque.

"What'd you do?"

Claire smiled, trying to assure him that it was nothing, "Just errands."

"Perfectly good spaghetti being wasted here," Eve said through a full mouth. She waved her fork around and grabbed a meat ball from the bowl.

"Spaghetti tastes good cold," Claire pointed out. She went and sat down, Shane sat to her right.

"Everything tastes better cold," he clarified.

Claire stopped and looked at him, "You're just saying that cause you hate cooking," she looked over at Eve, "Where's Michael?"

"Blood bank," she answered quickly. They tried not to make Michaels' drinking habits a big deal. Claire went for the bowl of the pasta with her left hand, Shane grabbed it and looked at the red scab that was now forming underneath her palm.

"What the hell is this?" he looked at her, instantly worried and scared.

"Claire?" Eve looked at her a bit fearfully. "Are you—" she didn't want to say it.

"Paper cut. I was reaching in to my bag. It's fine, it looks worse than it is. I think I should probably clean it after dinner," she continued moving the pasta towards her and scooped some on to her plate. She tried to play off the injury as if it was nothing.

"Paper cut?" Eve questioned her, not exactly buying her alibi. Shane was still looking at her too and Claire started to feel guilty about lying to them. She knew they'd be even more upset if they knew why she was injured, but she hadn't thought about what they would think the cut really was. Living in Morganville was hard, but not hard enough to resort to cutting for the high of it.

"Yeah, paper cut," she reiterated. "Those notebooks are a bitch."

Eve seemed to let it go, "Language, Claire Bear."

**AN: **I've read and finished _Kiss of Death_. I can assure you there will be no similarities between _KoD_ and _Vampire Vacation_. This will be full of much more sweetness, but still have some drama. If there's anything you would like to see happen in _Vampire_ _Vacation_, review and let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

**Vampire Vacation**

**Chapter 4**

Claire rolled her eyes at Eve, "When's Michael getting—" but she didn't have time to finish her question because the Glass House resident vampire walked in the door.

"Hey guys," he slid in to his seat at the center of the table. Claire didn't quite understand it but things always felt a little more complete and comfortable when Michael was in the house and they were all together. It might have had something to do with the house being connected to Michael in the way that it was, but Claire wasn't sure. Myrnin was still trying to explain how that worked.

"Hey, I kind of have an announcement," Claire said timidly. She hadn't felt this awkward speaking in front of the three since she first moved in. A few months ago she had just been an overly smart sixteen year old that roomed with a bunch of almost 20-year-olds because she was bullied in the dorms. Now she was a seventeen-year-old who roomed with her best friends, and they were the most amazing friends that she could have asked for.

All three of her friends looked at her expectantly and Claire felt her heart begin to hammer. "Is everything okay?" Eve asked seriously. Her eyes flashed to Claire's wrist again and Claire slid her hands under the table where Shane grabbed them. "I want to take us on a vacation," she said quickly. She had to get it all out before her friends thought it was something truly concerning. "Uhm, I thought about it and thought it would be pretty cool to take you all with me when I go to the funeral… well, not the funeral, that's not very cool, but California. I talked with Myrnin and Amelie and they're actually okay with it."

'Actually okay with it,' was probably a poor choice of words. It had taken a lot of work to get them to agree, but that wasn't the point.

"California?" Michael asked skeptically. "You mean where it's sunny all the time?"

Eve slapped Michael's arm to shush him, "She means like a vacation and it's sunny here too, stop being such a rain cloud," she focused her attention back on Claire though Michael had grabbed her offending hand and was rolling his thumb over the top. "I don't know if you really thought this out all the way, Claire, and shouldn't you be with your parents right now?"

Claire hadn't wanted to talk about her parents. She had wanted to ignore the weirdness, accept that things could be normal in Morganville. But, normal and Morganville being in the same sentence was a prime example of opposites. Nothing could be normal in Morganville.

"My parents… my parents are," Claire got up from the table, "look, it was just an idea. Sorry. I didn't think." Claire picked up her bag from the hallway and went up to her room. Though she might be living with her parents for the time being, she had been moving some things back to the Glass House. Really, her parents house was just a place to sleep. She threw her bag next to the stacked up textbooks and pulled her covers down. Claire dug sweat pants out from a drawer, put them on and curled into bed.

She cried.

Whether she was crying for her Nana, for her parents or out of frustration wasn't very clear. Claire just wanted things to be normal. She wanted to hang out with her friends and have a Spring Break like every other college student did. Okay, maybe not a Spring Break like _some _other college students did but just a vacation of some sort. No vampires, no parents breathing down her neck, no blood-thirsting computers that made a town function, no vampire mafia. Maybe it was a rash decision, maybe it was being selfish. Her mother had been really close with her grandmother, she really had to be hurting right now.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Eve, go away. I just need to sleep."

"It's me," Shane said from the other side.

"I don't want to talk," Claire tucked her head under the covers to muffle his voice. She curled into herself to create a small ball. Only a few minutes ago she wanted nothing more than to be in a room alone with Shane, but now she was too busy rethinking her emotions. _Emotions shouldn't be questioned, should they?_

"Not everything needs to be talked out," Shane said quietly though clearly. He had to be speaking into the crack of the door and doorframe.

Claire groaned. In any other circumstance Claire would have ushered Shane in, but now was different. "I don't want to- I just want to sleep, Shane. I want to be alone." Despite what she said she heard the doorknob turn and the door open and shut with a deft click. "Shane…"

She hadn't pulled the covers off from over her head, so she only felt the mattress sink when he sat down next to her. "Claire, what's going on?"

"I'm just stupid. And immature. And… I don't know." She pushed the sheets down to look at him. In the moonlight, he was heaven. Like a glass of lemonade on a hot day, when it was just her and Shane, things were easy and simple, most of the time at least. And anything difficult with him tended to be worth it.

"What's this whole thing about?" He brushed her hair out of her face, it was becoming unmanageable in its awkward length.

"If you're going to stay for awhile, you can get under the covers. It's kind of cold in here." Shane shifted under the covers and pulled her close to him, at first she was facing away from her but Claire couldn't stand the sight of the wall. Shane's strong arms around her were wonderful, but she wanted to see his face. She wanted to put her cheek upon his chest and feel the steady beat of his heart there, she wanted to bury her face into his neck and breathe in the scent that could keep her grounded and sane in even the craziest of situations. Claire made a noise of complaint and rolled over to face him.

"So, beautiful, what's going on? I know you might be some girl genius and all, but emotions are emotions. And I know a thing or two about losing relatives. I want to help, Claire," he kissed her forehead, "in any way I can. If you want to talk we can talk, if you want to just lay here we can do that too."

"I don't think I'm crying for Nana, Shane," she clarified. "I mean, I'm sad but she was old. Maybe Morganville has made me cynical or numb to death… but, I'm sad that my mom is upset and grieving but, you know, it was her time. Does that make me a horrible person?"

"You could never be a horrible person, Claire."

Claire pushed away and sat up, that wasn't what she wanted to hear! "My grandmother just died and all I can think about it how to plan a Spring Break with my friends."

"Why is this Spring break thing so important to you? Do you want to go run around a beach and get drunk?" Shane frowned, obviously confused at the mysterious train of thought of a woman.

"No, I just want a break. I want to do something normal. Not all Spring breaks have to involve getting drunk and doing stupid things. I just want a break."

"Are you scared?"

"It's Morganville, I'm always scared. But I'm not running away! I just want a break.

I think my parents want out, though. Out of Morganville, out of everything that has to do with Morganville."

"Even you?"

"I don't know… they're letting me stay here for the week. I think my parents have realized they are in over their head, they've realized they can't deal with it. You know, the other day I heard my mom tell my father that if he had a heart attack they might be able to get out of here. That Amelie would have to let them go to a better hospital. Do you realize how sick and twisted that is?" Shane tried to calm her down by rubbing his hands arm and down her arms, but it was no use. "That's worse than me making Spring Break plans after hearing my grand-nana died. And what's even worse, I had to agree. I want them out and I want them safe. I want them safe if it means I never get to see them again, Shane!"

"That's not a terrible thing. That's love. If I could get you out of here, I'd do anything."

Claire frowned and leaned down to him, she placed her hands on both of his cheeks in order to get his full attention. "I wouldn't leave without you. I'd wish you get it through your thick skull. You're stuck with me."

"Don't worry, Claire!" He shook his head to emphasize his point. "I will have you for as long as you want me."

"Good," Claire said, settling the matter. She settled back down into his arms and closed her eyes. With Shane's strong arms around her, in the safety of her own bed, this was one of the few places where the silence was beautiful. Nothing needed to be said, even though things needed to be discussed. Claire figured they could wait till later.

**AN: **Sorry, school consumed my life for awhile. I'm back for the summer and will try to do a chapter every other week. Here's hoping. Reviews inspire me to write, plus I don't have too much planned once they get to the beach so... what do YOU want to see? Leave me a comment and maybe I can make it work!


	5. Chapter 5

**Vampire Vacation**

**Chapter Five**

She woke up groggy and sweaty. The room had been cold the night before but between getting worked up and crying and sleeping in Shane's arms all night things had gotten a little warmer. Claire wouldn't give up waking up in his arms for anything though. Even still the sun was starting to peak out from over the edge of her windowsill and Claire had things to do today. After her mid-term papers were turned in she would need to talk with Shane and Eve and Michael again. There's reactions had been… not unexpected, but not what Claire wanted. In the light of day though now, Claire saw that she hadn't exactly thought things through all the way, just like Eve and Amelie had pointed out.

She was traveling with a vampire, her boyfriend and someone who had never been out of Morganville before. It wasn't like they could just pack their bags and get on the first plane out. Like Amelie had said, they would need to take the sun into account. And California was usually known for their sun. Shane slept through Claire getting out of the bed, and even her ruffling through her drawers to find something to wear.

Despite the tears from last night Claire's eyes were fairly clear the next morning, and by the time she was done with her shower she looked like nothing had really gone on the night before. With her hair drying at her shoulders and dressed for the day Claire went back in to her room to wake Shane up since he worked at eleven.

Sleeping Shane was someone most people didn't have the lucky opportunity to see. Shane was guarded, be it because of Morganville or because of what happened to his parents, and when he was asleep he was vulnerable. Claire couldn't even remember him so much as taking a nap on the couch in the living room. Slowly she crept over to him on the bed and brushed his shaggy hair out of the way.

"Time to wake up, Shane."

Shane twisted in the bed and groaned a little. Claire sneaked a glance at the alarm clock on the side bed, it flashed un ugly 9:06am. There was going to be no sweet wake up call for Shane. This time, she shook him hard and pulled down the covers. "Really," she said bluntly, "it's time to get up."

"Gah, Claire, way to be the bearer of bad news. What's your deal this morning?"

"No deal," she kissed him quickly on the lips before heading back to the door, "I just have things to do and you have work. What time do you get off?" She took her phone off the charger from the dresser and shoved it in her back pocket.

"Five, I'll bring home dinner if you want," he eased himself out of bed, pulling his shirt off the ground and putting it back on.

"Didn't we just have barbeque?" Claire complained. She loved that he offered to bring home the freebies he got at work, but you could really only eat so much barbeque.

"That was Tuesday."

"It's Thursday, sweetie," Claire shoved her feet in to her shoes and started out the hallway where Shane followed. Eve was sitting on the counter next to the brewing coffee.

"Hey, you want the sports?" Eve asked through a mouthful of toast.

"I'm good," was all Shane got out before slumping in to one of the chair's at the kitchen table. It was still a little too early for him.

"Hey," Claire said quietly, "have you and Michael talked about going to California at all?"

"A little, we want to. I want to, Claire. God, I want to so much. I'm not exactly a sand and surf kind of girl, but I've never even been out of Morganville. I can't even imagine what it'd be like. But," she said hesitantly, "it's hard Claire, have you talked with Amelie and Myrnin?"

"Yes," Claire exclaimed. "It's all set up. Amelie is even letting us use her private plane so we don't even have to worry about plane times or anything. My family has a house on the beach and there's lot of shade and blinds and—" Claire was rambling at this point and Eve was giving her a pathetic look. "I just want to do something good for everyone."

"I'll talk to Michael once he gets up. I think he was just shocked. He's a guy, Claire, he probably just got ahead of himself," Eve said snidely.

"Hey!" Shane shouted from the table, "I'm offended."

"I don't care," Eve said with a sweet smile to Shane. Claire was somewhat envious of the friendship between Shane and Eve. She wished that she had something like that, she had friends at her old high school but once she decided to graduate two years early none of them really understood her and they just kind of shifted apart. It wasn't like Claire could update her Facebook every few hours and tell her friends what she was doing, "OMG, totally just fought army of vampires." Yeah, that wouldn't go over too well.

"Anyway," Eve continued, "I'm gonna talk to Michael and hopefully change his mind. I want to see the beach!" Eve said with far more enthusiasm than someone would expect from the little goth girl that Eve was.

"Kay," Claire said uncertainly. She grabbed a bad of Pop-tarts from the cabinet and poured coffee and creamer into a mug. "I have to go turn some papers in but I'll be back at lunch time and explain everything."

Lunch time came too soon for Claire. Michael's negative reaction to her news had made her unconfident and between turning papers and walking all around campus she had started to second guess herself. The uncertainty of everything was making her just a little exhausted.

Claire slowed down to almost a crawl once she turned the corner of her street. But, no matter how slow she walked she still found herself at the front door of the Glass house.

Michael and Eve were sitting in the front living room, Michael had his guitar case out and was strumming out a few chords. He looked up from his seat and smiled at Claire, the same way he smiled at the girls in the front row at gigs he would play.

"So, when do we leave?"

"Really?" Claire asked, making sure she heard him right.

"Really, when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow," Claire grinned.

Claire was packing her bag for the second time this week, but this time it was with a much bigger smile on her face. And it wasn't because she had gotten her way—okay, it _mostly_ wasn't because she had gotten her way. Claire was simply happy to be getting away from Morganville. Sure, it wasn't forever but if a week was all she was going to be given she would make do with it.

The house a mess, mostly from Eve running back and forth between the bathroom, her room and Claire's room. Claire was slightly amused by it, but then she remembered that Eve had never been out of Morganville before. Aside from moving she had never had a reason to pack a suitcase.

"How many swimsuits do you think I'll need?" Eve asked on her seventh trip to Claire's room. Their rooms weren't all that far apart, Eve could actually just yell her questions down the hall instead of working up this sweat.

"However many you want," Claire wasn't sure if it was a statement or question. She was just throwing items in the bag, haphazardly counting items to make sure she got enough shirts and underwear into her bag.

"I guess ten should be fine," Eve said more to herself than to Claire. They were only going to be gone for ten days, including travel. Ten suits would definitely be fine. Claire just nodded and smiled and went back to digging in her closet for the missing flip flop.

She didn't get far though because soon Shane was leaning on her doorframe. The sight of Shane though was a more welcome interruption than one of Eve's many questions. In the cloud of chaos that Eve was dragging around the house Shane was the definition of cool, but then again, Claire thought he was almost always the definition of cool.

Despite his air of coolness he shifted uncomfortably in the doorway.

"Yeah?" Claire smiled, waiting for him to say whatever it was that he was going to say.

"What are we…" he looked out into the hallway to see if anyone was coming, when he saw no one (at least, Claire figured he saw no one) he began again, "what are we bringing for protection?"

Claire coughed on the air in her throat and stared bug eyed at Shane. She knew she shouldn't be getting so embarrassed over the topic of _protection_, like Eve had said "you're practicing safe sex, that's nothing to be ashamed about." Claire wasn't ashamed, she just wasn't really brought up to talk about those kinds of things so openly. Claire knew it wasn't taboo, it was in fact a perfectly normal biological function that felt good in order to further the population. But that didn't mean that having _it_ brought up outside of certain circumstances didn't make Claire blush.

"I thought—I thought that was your deal," Claire stumbled over the words. Protection was, in fact, Shane's deal. Kind of. Claire took the little pill like clockwork and Shane bought the… condoms. Even thinking about the word made Claire blush.

Shane looked at her in a moment of shock. "I meant for vampires," he said slowly. He and Claire obviously weren't on the same page.

Claire's anxiety went down infinitely, which was odd since the topic of vampires was brought up. She slouched and folded up another shirt and shoved it deep in to the recesses of her suitcase, she had given up on finding the purple sandal. "You really think we'll need it Shane? It's California, it's sunny… vampires wouldn't stay there."

"Didn't stop the ones in Sunnydale," Shane said this like Sunnydale wasn't a fictional town then he added, "and it's not stopping Michael." That part was true, and Michael was just a baby vampire. Things would probably be easier for an older vampire. Claire looked down at her suitcase.

"I still have some room in here, bring me what we need."

**AN: **What you recognized from _Kiss of Death_ obviously belongs to Rachel Caine. I just wanted to expand on the matter because awkwardness is always fun, especially when it's endured by our favorite couple.

Again, if you want to have some say with what goes on just review and let me know. What's going on once they get to the wonderful state of California is still up in the air for the most part.


	6. Chapter 6

**Vampire Vacation**

**Chapter Six**

"Oh my God," Claire said, just a breath above a whisper.

"Holy crap," was Shane's response.

"This is lush," Eve smiled.

"We are so going to owe her," Michael said, sounding already exhausted from what the group was going to have to go through in order to make up for Amelie allowing them use of her private jet.

The private jet was something to behold from the outside, but from the inside… well, Claire imagined it would be hard to fly any other way after this. While it was obvious that it was a plane, the typical cheap blue carpeting and stained and ripped polyester chairs were missing. Instead there were wooden floors throughout, covered here and there with lush carpets. The seating was an arrangement of plush leather recliners with safety belts and sectional couches that surrounded three large screens.

"I could get used to this," Shane said after throwing himself on to one of the sectionals and picking up the remote. "Oh my God, she has onDemand." Shane started flipping through the channels and Claire rolled her eyes.

"Hello, my name Darren," a man in a formal looking suit came out from the front of the plane, "I'll be your flight attendant for the duration of the trip. You can store your bags here," he walked over to a row of cabinets and opened them up. Claire picked up the bag Shane had dropped in his distraction and shoved that one and hers in to one of the cabinets.

"During take off," Darren started to explain, "you'll need to be in these seats with the seat belts. The captain will make an announcement when you can get up and walk around. We won't be having any meals but the fridge is stocked with plenty of snacks, the one to the left has blood for you," he said looking at Michael. Claire was grateful that the blood and food was separate but then wondered exactly how much human interaction Amelie had that she needed two different fridges in her private jet. "The flight will take about three hours, we'll be landing around 2am. A car will be there to take you to where you are staying. Get comfortable, we should be taking off in about a half and hour. I'll make an announcement when you will need to get buckled in. If you have any other questions please feel free to call for me."

Darren went behind the magic curtain again and left the four teens to do what they wanted. "This is awesome," Eve said and flounced down on to a lounge chair, her black skirt puffing up from the ironic pink crinoline underneath it. Michael sat down next to her without comment, before arriving at the small airport Michael had been in a pleasant mood. But something had changed drastically since then. But when Eve leaned back across Michael's lap she realized that there really wasn't anything she could do at the moment. In order to reprieve herself from having to see anymore of the scene between Michael and Eve (though it was adorable) she moved to the couch where Shane was still stretched out looking for a movie to watch. Luckily the couch was facing opposite of Eve and Michael.

Copying Shane Claire threw herself on to the couch. She hadn't quite judged it right and only made the ledge, Shane grabbed her around her waist and pulled her on top of him. Claire smiled and kissed his cheek in thanks and then rested her head on his chest. Shane ran his fingers through her hair brunette locks but continued flipping through the channels. There really could only be so many channels, Claire thought after a few minutes.

"So, are you just going to sit here the whole time and flip through channels?" Claire finally asked.

Shane put the remote down and looked up at her impatient face. Then he smiled, that sly Shane smile that was only reserved for Claire. At times it made her feel special, but at other time it made her feel a little bit hesitant. This was one of those times.

"Well, we could join the mile high club," he suggested and waggled his eyebrows.

Claire frowned, confused, "What's that?"

Shane laughed boisterously and hugged her tightly to his chest in a loving manner. "I love you, Claire."

Claire pulled back though, "I love you too, but what's the mile high club?" From behind her she heard Michael laughing.

Eve sat up and yelled across the cabin, "Don't you dare corrupt her, Shane! I swear to God if you do…"

"Chill, I won't," he rumpled up Eve's hair and went back to flipping through channels. Claire resigned herself to having to do a little research on what he said. That was definitely one of the problems of living with three people older than her. Claire loved her family but she hated being treated like a naïve baby. She might have been naïve but that was only because nobody would ever explain things to her. If she was living her life like a big girl, Claire thought she should at least be treated like a big girl. But, they didn't care and continued to not explain phrases or jokes to her. They wouldn't even let her drink beer even though they had all been drinking beer when they were her age. It was wholly unfair.

Shane had finally settled on a movie—something with lots of blood and guns—when the captain finally announced that they would be taking off. Shane turned the TV off and they all shifted over to the chairs with the seatbelts. Claire was the only one in the group who had ever been on a plane before, these chairs certainly weren't the typical airplane seats. She could have gotten a good night's sleep in these chairs.

Darren came back out and ran through them through safety procedures and made sure they were buckled correctly. Once Darren went back behind the curtain the plane began to move. Unlike the usual hum of the plane this one was quiet, or at least quiet enough. They were all pretty quiet as the plane went up in to the air. It had been years since Claire had been on the plane so the feeling of the air pressure changing felt weird. She closed her eyes and leaned back in the comfortable seat for the duration of the take off.

Once they had reached the top altitude and had popped their ears so they could hear again Darren announced that they were free to move about the cabin. Shane got up and stretched and Claire enjoyed the view that the lifted up hem of his shirt gave her. Shane smirked when he saw her face, "Wanna go finish that movie?" he held out his hand to help her get up.

She took it and then continued holding it. "I'd love to but I need to do homework." It might have been Spring Break for Claire but the teachers and TPU really didn't care.

"Isn't it Spring Break?" Shane groaned but dragged her over to the couch, even though her homework was packed away in the cabinet. She had thesis paper for computational physics to turn in once she got back to school. Claire explained to him her teachers' thought process and went to get her bag from the cabinet. Backpack in hand she sat down next to Shane on the couch.

Her new physics teacher was from the Stone Age and didn't allow any Internet citations, so Claire had to lug around three heavy physics books to use for research. It was archaic and just a little bit traumatizing. She set the first one down on her lap and opened it, dismayed to see that she was the first person to check it out. That meant that there weren't going to be any handy notes or highlighting going on in the book.

"What's that?" Shane interrupted her reading.

"This?" she looked down at the book in her lap. "It's a book. I know your education might not be prime having grown up in Morganville—"

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding," Claire said gently. She wondered briefly how sensitive Shane really was about his education. He had dropped little hints about it before and she was starting to wonder if he was even a high school graduate, the accident with his sister directly coincided with his senior year. It didn't particularly bother Claire, not like she thought it would. Education was important to Claire, but not to Shane. At least, that's the front he put up.

Claire didn't push it though, she did kiss him quickly on the lips. Shane pulled her back though, closer to him, and groaned. Claire wanted desperately to continue but she knew that while the plane was private the cabin was quite small and though the separate couches offered them some privacy it wasn't enough to allow them room for a full on make-out section.

"I'm sorry," Claire said as she pulled back. "I need to study."

"You don't need to be sorry for that, I can control myself…" they both frowned when they realized what he said and what a total lie it was.

"I meant I'm sorry for teasing you about the book thing," Claire looked down uncomfortably. This was pushing it, exactly what she didn't want to do.

"It's fine," Shane said softly. "Don't worry about it."

Shane was going back to the movie but Claire found herself speaking again. "Did you… did you graduate?"

Shane looked at her in that insecure way that was another thing that was only reserved for her. Claire didn't like seeing that face. She set her book to the side and grabbed his hand, she rubbed her thumb over it. Compared to her hands his were so big and almost callused from using the knives at work. She could faintly see a few scars on his arms from the fights they had been in. She traced over them as she waited for him to answer.

"No," was all he said at first. Claire felt terrible for it but her stomach dropped a little. "After I came back it just wasn't really in the cards for me, and with my options in Morganville it just didn't seem worth it."

"I don't think less of you," she said quietly. She probably could have phrased it better, a little more diplomatically, but it just came out. Just like Shane wasn't a high school graduate or ever going to hold a high-paying job, Claire was never going to be a blonde bombshell or be able to say the right thing at the right time.

"I'm never gonna be that guy, if that's what you want, Claire."

"I know that. Just like I'm never gonna be Megan Fox."

"And if I wanted to date someone like that I could go and find her."

"Oh, like you are in the same league as someone like Megan Fox. Besides, if _I_ wanted to date a high school graduate I could also find one. I do happen to go to college," Claire grinned and enjoyed watching Shane get that hot glaze going over his eyes, "I do seem to like my men older."

"Agh," Shane groaned and pulled her even closer. Her forgotten notebooks and pencils fell to the floor in a clatter. "I love you, jailbait."

"And I love you, dropout."

Shane laughed and kissed her softly on the lips. The kiss quickly went up in temperature and Shane rolled over on to his back and let Claire's legs fall over his hips. Just before the thought of Eve and Michael being in the same cabin as them Eve popped up over the couch. "You guys are so gross, I hope you know that." Claire pulled back and hopped off of Shane, embarrassed.

"Like you're any better," Shane spat back. He sat up though and straightened out his shirt.

Eve flipped him off and then flopped on to the couch, Michael was still over on the lounge. "Let's watch a movie," Eve grabbed the remote from where Shane had left it and began flipping through the options.

"We were watching a movie," Shane said, pointing at the TV.

"Let's watch a _good_ movie," Eve clarified. Shane looked at Claire for backup but she just shrugged and picked up her books and started reading again.

By the time the first movie had ended and Shane and Eve were arguing over which movie to watch next Michael was still sitting over on the other side of the cabin. Without Shane and Michael noticing much she got up, leaving her books behind, and went over to them.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked gently. Once Claire got a good look at his face she realized what a stupid question it was, Michael looked stressed. He looked more stressed then Claire did when she started applying to colleges when she was fifteen—and she had been really stressed then.

"What did you do to get us all of this?" he looked around the brightly lit cabin.

"Nothing," Claire insisted, "I just signed a contract."

"A contract?" his eyes flashed red and he sat up a little straighter.

"Nothing bad. Just saying that I won't tell anyone and that if I do, even if it's an accident, I'll be getting punished. But I'm not going to tell anyone. You need to start trusting me, Michael. I might not be a Morganville native but I'm starting to get the hang of things. "

"You signed something?" Michael asked and Claire realized that he had caught on. "Amelie never has people _sign_ things."

Claire rubbed at her wrist, the wound was still there but well on its way to mending. Michael grabbed her hand a little less then gently and looked at the thin line of red. Claire wondered if it made him hungry, then hoped that it didn't.

"Please don't tell Shane or Eve. It's not a big deal, it's just something I had to do."

"You don't think you should have called me, first?"

Claire crossed her arms across her chest, mad.

"What, because you're a guy?"

In short amount of time Claire had grown to love her entire Glass house family, but when the boys pulled the macho "I'm a guy, I'll save you thing", she had to admit, she loved them a little less.

"No," Michael corrected, "because I'm a vampire."

Claire fell silent. He kind of had a point, having a vampire on her side might have helped her case. Maybe signing in blood wasn't the best idea. And she didn't know all the vampire secrets, maybe there was something she missed in the conversation that meant something bad was going to happen to her no matter what. Claire tended to forget that Michael was a vampire though, before he was a vamp he had been a ghost so Claire was used to him having restrictions on when or if he could leave the house. Still though, Michael was a young vampire, he really didn't have much influence on what Amelie did. Claire wasn't sure anyone besides Michael's grandfather would ever have much influence on someone as powerful of Amelie.

"Just trust me, okay," Claire said adamantly. She wasn't sure how much confidence she was really infusing in to it though. "I did this for you guys, and I did it for me. We're going to California. And we're going to have fun. If I don't see a smile plastered on your face the entire time, I'm gonna throw the biggest bitch fit you've ever seen. I've been taking notes from Eve."

Okay, so maybe that was a little bit too much. Michael raised an eyebrow. Had any other vampire done that she would have been a little scared, especially in a space this close but Michael was as gentle as a bunny rabbit.

"Okay, Claire," was all Michael said before getting up and going to sit next to Eve. It was not the "okay" of "okay, I understand your point" it was the "okay" of "okay, I'm giving in for now". This had not been a victory for Claire.

**AN: **Whoops, sorry about the not updating. I gave you a little bit of a longer chapter though to make up for it. I hope you liked the scene with Shane and Claire. The idea of him not being a high school grad (not okay, kids, stay in school!) came from the first chapter of _Ghost Town _which is up on Rachel Caine's website. It seems to me that he missed the last two years of high school, but don't take my word for it.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: **What can I say? I suck, and not the cool kind that vampires do. I don't even have a cool excuse like "I went to Europe for the summer" or "My computer was stolen." I was just lazy and working on other projects. Let's get this thing done.

**Vampire Vacation**

**Chapter Seven**

It was still dark when the plane landed at the small airport and the group was quickly ushered to a sleek black car. Claire had been expecting warm air and the smell of sea salt, but instead all she could smell was the tarmac and the air was chilly and even a little foggy. It had been a long time she had been in California, and even longer since she had been out this early—or late, depending on how you looked at it.

Claire practically sunk in to the lush leather seats of the back of the car, and before she even knew it she was sound asleep on Shane's shoulder.

Shane was nudging her awake, not in the way he normally did though. This wasn't the rushed nudge of "Claire, you slept through your alarm". This was soft and slow. When Shane wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up to him she opened her eyes. Shane was there, of course, sleepy and handsome. Beyond Shane, though, was a fogged over night sky and the sound of the waves hitting the shore. And just faintly, was the smell of sea salt. Claire smiled.

"Lemme down, I need to get the key." Shane obliged but still held on to her. Michael and Eve looked very much the same, though they were facing the ocean. Claire realized that this was their first look at the ocean, or at least it was for Eve. She wasn't sure about Michael, or Shane for that matter. Claire dug through the side bag she had taken on the plane with her until she found the keychain her mother had given to her.

The driver of the car had already brought all of bags up to the porch and was now talking with Michael. Claire opened up the house. Her grandmother had spent the last few years of her life in a nursing home, but had held on to the house because she wanted family to be able to use, maybe live in it. Claire didn't have many cousins and she couldn't imagine any of them living in here, but she also knew she probably wouldn't be able to live here. Not unless something drastic changed about Morganville.

Claire pushed the deep thoughts aside and pushed through the door, it creaked and the entire house smelled musty. She tossed her bag on the plastic covered couch and went over to the windows to open them up. "Help me out?" Claire asked softly. She was tired but she knew they couldn't sleep in a house that smelled of dust and mothballs. After the driver and car left Michael and Eve joined them and opened the rest of the windows with them.

"So," Claire slid down on the couch, the plastic crinkling and setting off the nerves in her head telling her a headache was impending, "there's a room in the basement—a guest room—there's just one small window, I figure that one would be best for you Michael… and Eve… however we're going to do this…" she awkwardly moved around the subject of who was sleeping where and with whom. It was something that had been in the back of her head, back in Morganville everyone started off in their own room at least and though the beach house had enough bedrooms for all four of them she wasn't sure if the usual rules were going to be followed.

"There's tape somewhere and towels… we can do something better tomorrow, but this should work for now." Claire got up and started digging in the kitchen drawers. It was a hodgepodge of all loose ends but eventually she found a roll of duct tape and a pile of (somewhat dusty) towels. "The dusts not going to be a problem, right?" she started to ask, but was interrupted with a yawn.

"Don't worry about it, CB," Eve said, smiling even though she looked just as sleepy as Claire, even more so because he make up had smudged. "We'll figure it out." Michael picked up the two bags in the hallway that were theirs and Eve took the tape and towels…, which left just her and Shane.

Claire ran her finger over the plastic of the couch, remembering how her Nana used to chide her for sitting on the furniture in a wet swimsuit. She didn't speak, partly because she was feeling nostalgic but also because she wasn't sure how to broach the sleeping arrangement between her and Shane. Claire knew what she wanted, in every fiber of her being she knew what she wanted but she was scared to voice it. Shane had this unjustified desire to keep her innocent, and Claire knew it had to be abnormal for the girl in the relationship to be breaking down barriers. Every time he turned her down or told her no broke her just a little bit. She knew he didn't mean her harm by what he was saying—her breakdown after Shane was released from jail had proven that—but that didn't mean it hurt less.

When Claire looked up she saw that Shane was smiling that crazy cute half smile that made her feel dizzy and as if she didn't have a concern in the world. It had the same effect on her at three in morning. "Let's go to bed," Shane held out his hand and Claire took it.

Inside, Claire was jumping for joy, but that didn't stop her from asking a few questions. "You're not gonna make me go sleep in my own room?"

"Well," Shane said in a low, gravelly voice, "I think I'm just being realistic about a few things. It's Spring Break, you don't have school and I don't have work, I doubt will stay in our own beds every night. I figure I'm just saving laundry." Shane stepped behind her as she led him down the hallway; Shane leaned down and nuzzled her neck making Claire falter in her step.

"This…" she pointed to the last door, "is the room I always got to sleep in. It's the master bedroom but Nana always let me sleep in there."

"I thought you weren't close to her."

Claire shrugged, turning to Shane, "We weren't close. I really only came here a few times… but they were wonderful." Claire smiled, remembering the cookies she burned in the kitchen and the bon fires on the beach. "Anyway," Claire opened up the door and went in to the stale room, "this is the best room in the house." Claire and Shane both walked in to the room, aside from the dust it looked very much the same. The bed centered between two large windows that looked out on the lit up pier, the framed seashells lining the walls. But most prominently were the French doors that led straight on the beach. Claire opened them up and the fresh sea air almost immediately relieved the smell of the dust.

It was only her exhaustion that was keeping her from running out there and letting her feet sink in the cold wet sand. She turned around and went towards the bed. Claire wasn't sure who but someone had come along and put new sheets on the bed. Shane pulled them down and then slipped out of his clothes. For some crazy reason Claire's stomach did somersaults. It must have shown on her face because Shane went, "Claire," that amused little smile playing on his face. It didn't help Claire at all and her face went up in flames. Bashfully she smiled and grabbed Shane's discarded shirt, pulling it over her own and carefully taking her pants off.

Once in bed, Shane grabbed her around the waist and pulled her closer. "You've been trying to get in to my pants since God knows when," he whispered in to her, "and now you're all modest."

"Go to sleep, Collins," Claire growled, even though she was smiling. After a few minutes of looking out longingly at the dark beach, she turned around and fell asleep.

"Dear God, that's bright." Shane pulled up the covers over his and Claire's heads. Claire rolled deeper in to Shane's chest, even though the sun was beating down in to the room and making it warm Shane's chest was a whole lot warmer. And much more tempting.

Then Claire heard the crash of the waves and seagulls fighting over their morning meal.

Claire pulled the covers down and slowly opened her eyes. The fog somehow enhanced the brightness of sun, and with the biting cold of the air, it was a far cry from the usual spring day in Morganville.

"I have to get ready," Claire said, even though she was still curled in to Shane's chest.

"The funeral is today?" Shane opened his eyes finally and Claire looked up at him. She scooted closer, so they were nose to nose, just inches away from kissing… inches away from definitely being late for the funeral. She already walked a fine line with her parents; she didn't need to break their trust.

"Yeah, at eleven. I'll be back in the afternoon. I thought we could just spend the day on the beach, maybe the sun will be out…." Claire drifted off, thinking of how to spend free time. It had been so long since she hadn't had anything to do, she didn't have to go and help Myrnin or fight vampires or do any school work… she was simply free to do anything. It was an odd feeling.

Before the freedom started though she had to get ready and meet up with her family. Claire got out of the bed and went over to shut the doors. Even with the fog and the cold the beach looked incredibly inviting. When Claire went to pull out the black outfit she noted how lonely Shane looked in the bed. She grinned bashfully when she saw his wandering eyes. She brushed it off though, Shane certainly was doing a number on her self-control.

Claire called a cab to get her to the private beach where her family was spreading her great-grandmother's ashes. Her parents were waiting for her at the top of the cliff by the stairs that led down to the beach. Her mother appeared to have tried to look nice, but even behind the make up her eyes were red. Her grip on her father's hand looked tighter than a vice.

Claire hugged her mother, "Sorry for not calling last night, we got in late. How are you?"

"I'm okay. Your friends stayed at the beach house?" Mom asked, her voice was hoarse and Claire wondered how long she had stayed up the night before crying.

"Yeah, I—I just wanted to be with you guys," in truth she hadn't really thought about inviting them. Her Morganville family and her blood-family still just seemed too separate.

"It'll be nice to spend time with you, away from… everything Morganville," her father said. Claire didn't mention that since she had been living with them she had spent more time with them than before, but then she realized that her father really meant that he was glad she was away from Shane, even if just for a little bit. Her father still wasn't too excited about him.

"Come on, let's go down, we should be starting soon," her mother spoke before anything else could be said. The walk down the stairs was long and rickety, the stairs wobbled and her shoes tended to slide against them because they were covered in sand.

"Claire! I am so happy to see you." Claire looked up to see Cee Cee, her mom's Mom and Claire's grandmother, come sweeping towards her. Cee Cee tended to be the very definition with Texas, all Southern drawl and big hair. Claire thought it was weird that Cee Cee was happy, after all her mother had died, but Cee Cee had always been a little off.

"It's nice to see you too, Cee Cee." Her grandmother wrapped her arm around Claire's shoulder and pulled her to the shore where an authoritative man stood with a cluster of people around him. Claire recognized a few of them as cousins or uncles or aunts, but ever since she decided to graduate early, she hadn't kept in contact with most of them.

After the service Cee Cee offered to take them all out to lunch. Cee Cee took them to a small seafood restaurant and made sure they were seated in a secluded booth near the back of the building. Once they were all served their clam chowder Cee Cee turned to Claire, "I've heard you're serious with a _boy_, right now." Cee Cee said it like it was taboo. Claire leaned back against the booth, she had thought they were going to go out as a family. Cee Cee certainly never made the trip to see them, even before her mom and dad moved to Morganville. Instead, this was an interrogation.

"His name is Shane, Grandma."

"Don't call me Grandma, that certainly won't help your case. How are your grades?"

"A's, Cee Cee. I'm in the advance classes, the school let me bypass the pre-req's," well, really Amelie had pulled some strings but the truth really wasn't up for discussion. "I'm also, uh, working with a professor on some, well, some scientific experiments. I can't really talk about them—I signed papers—but it's going to be big." Claire crumbled some crackers in to her soup, hoping what she had told Cee Cee was enough to appease her, but she didn't have that kind of luck.

"Well, I'm glad your grades aren't suffering because of this _boy_, but I would prefer that you gave all your attention to school. I would hate to see my money wasted," her grandmother said.

"It's not being wasted, Cee Cee. I'm getting all A's and I'm gonna be talking with a counselor about transferring to a bigger school soon, once I turn 18, just like we all talked about." Claire looked at her parents pointedly, hoping that they would play along. She was certain they both knew that there was no way she was ever transferring from TPU. She'd be lucky if she ever got out of Morganville. "You don't need to worry about Shane and me," she looked at her parents again, "none of you need to worry."

"Well, how serious are you two?" Cee Cee prodded. "Maybe I should meet him—"

"Oh my God, you don't need to meet him—"

"Are you ashamed of us?" Cee Cee asked. And still, her parents said nothing. She was still a minor, weren't they supposed to protect her or something.

"No, of course not, Cee Cee?"

"Are you ashamed of him?"

"No! Look, can we just go?" Claire put her spoon down in her chowder, "There's sand in my soup."

Cee Cee frowned and swirled her spoon around her own chowder a few times. Claire knew that suggesting that this restaurant was inferior was just the thing to get Cee Cee off of her and on to something else. Cee Cee called for the check and then threw a few bills on to the table before leading the way out.

Claire was exhausted by the time she got back to the beach house, she was also sweating under the black slacks and t-shirt. Sometime between the end of the funeral and the end of lunch the sun had burned off the fog. The house appeared empty when she walked in, Claire wondered if they had gone down to the beach without her, although Michael would have had to stay back. Claire walked towards the basement doorway when she heard voices. She tossed her bag in the hallway and went down. The room was dark, even with the lights on. It looked like Eve had decided to tape over all the small windows.

"How was it?" Eve asked. The three of them were sitting on the couch, watching some cable show. Shane and Michael were still in their pajamas, but Eve was the very image of a goth beach bum. Blacks high waisted-short-shorts and a billowy grey top over her swimsuit. She was ready for the beach in the only way that Eve could do it. Claire went over to Shane and sat next to him, he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her cheek. His breath smelled like syrup.

"It was really nice, very simple." Claire didn't mention the lunch afterwards, or what her grandmother had said about Shane. She didn't want to think about it at all.

"That's good, I'm glad you had that," Michael said. "Any other plans with your family?"

"Uhm, I don't know," Claire realized they hadn't said anything about dinner or meeting up again. "My parents are going to go up to San Francisco and talk to my grand-nana's lawyer, I think they're going back to Morganville from there."

For a few minutes, the group was silent before Eve got up. "Okay, are we going to the beach or not?" She turned to Michael, who would have to stay behind until dusk, "I love you Michael, but I want to feel the warm sand beneath my feet."

"It's okay," he smiled sadly, "go have fun." In Morganville being a vampire, and allergic to the sun, was the norm. The town tended to work on a different time scale and things that Claire was involved in usually happened on a nocturnal schedule. It was only outside of Morganville that Claire realized just how much Michael was really missing.

"The beach sounds great. Sun, surf, sand, hot babes. Let's go!" Shane got off the couch and turned around to help Claire up, but she wasn't taking his hand. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and eyebrow was raised.

"Excuse me? I'm not going to go to the beach with you if you're just going to be checking out other girls, Shane."

Shane looked surprised, "Obviously I meant you and Eve," he backpedaled. Claire felt that ping of jealousy she felt when she saw Shane and Eve sharing some inside joke from ages ago. She'd never say it aloud but was jealous of the history they shared, she knew it was nothing romantic but that didn't seem to matter for her. It was still something. In Morganville, time was everything and Claire was insanely jealous that Eve had gotten more time with Shane than she had.

Claire pursed her lips, but instead of arguing said, "Let me go get my swim suit on."

Claire raced up the stairs and Shane followed her. He grabbed her hand before she went in to the room. Claire turned, but couldn't meet his eyes. She'd start crying and then she'd feel pathetic. She was hoping that as she got older she'd be able to control these kinds of things, but it was appearing to be useless.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired. My grandmother took us out for lunch and she's—well, she's paying for my education and she just expects a lot." That was all Claire wanted to say to him.

Shane frowned and tilted his head so he was looking her straight in the eye, "You should be thankful you have family that loves you," he spoke softly and it made Claire gurgle with the anticipation of tears.

"I am grateful, Shane. Trust me…. And, hey! You have family that loves you, Shane—"

"He's a vampire now, Claire. He's not my father. If I ever see him again I'll have to kill him."

Claire sighed, petulant, "I wasn't even talking about him. I was talking about me, about Eve, about Michael. We love you. I love you a lot. We're family. Blood or no blood, we're stuck together forever. Get over it." Claire smiled up at Shane, thankful the tears seemed to have gone away. Shane smiled too, taking her head in between in his hands he bent down and kissed her softly.

"I love you too, Claire."

"Okay, now go downstairs and let me change."

"I can't stay and watch?" Shane's grinned turned in to a cheeky smile and Claire felt herself blush.

**AN: **Much longer chapter than usual, I hope that makes up for my suckage. I'll try to finish this story up in a few chapters. I hope you're enjoying it, let me know! 


	8. Chapter 8

**Vampire Vacation**

**Chapter Eight**

Claire changed in to her turquoise two-piece. It covered her slim torso, but she always felt like her legs were so exposed. She looked around the room for a little bit before picking up Shane's shirt from last night and throwing it on over herself. She looked in the mirror, she didn't look as Goth beach chic as Eve didn't. When she looked down at her pale legs she realized she didn't even look beach chic, or even chic. She just looked like Claire. Mousy brown hair that was just resting over the tops of her shoulders, plain features and pale skin.

Claire shrugged at her reflection, she just wouldn't take the shirt off. Problem solved.

When she walked out of the room she bumped in to Eve.

"Where's your swim suit?" Eve asked, eyebrow raised. It was in these moments that Claire was very thankful that there wasn't a mall in Morganville. Eve walked a fine line between playing mother hen and totally corrupting Claire.

"It's under the shirt… I just didn't feel comfortable."

"You're hot though, Claire, why do you need to hide it?"

Claire shifted uncomfortably, trying to cover herself up some more. "I don't… I don't feel hot." The word sounded foreign when applied to her, it felt false.

"You are. Shane thinks you are." Claire certainly didn't believe that most of the time. Eve sighed, realizing that she wasn't going to convince Claire otherwise. She pulled something out of her back pocket. A black two-piece, far less fabric than the one Claire currently had one. "Here, put it on."

"Eve…"

"Please just put it on," Eve smiled, she was being a mother hen now and Claire was wondering where she was trying to go with this. "You're beautiful. You should dress beautiful, but most importantly you should feel beautiful."

Claire frowned but Eve ignored her and left the room. Begrudgingly Claire put the suit on, now she felt really exposed. She tugged this shirt back on, she had the swimsuit on and Eve never said anything about not putting the shirt back over it.

This time it was Shane who bumped in to her in the doorway.

"Hey Shane," she said shyly.

"What's with the shirt?" He tugged on the bottom and Claire shifted away. She wondered what the difference was with Shane's close proximity, he had seen her in far less than what she was wearing now. It shouldn't have been a big deal, and yet it was.

"I just don't want to go outside in just this swimsuit." She brought her hands up, close to her chest. Shane tugged on the shirt again, trying to lift it up.

"Doesn't the shirt stink? What's wrong with the suit?" Claire frowned, Shane seemed awfully understanding and downright reasonable, especially for Shane.

"It's just—it's just a bikini and—"

Claire looked up at him and his face flashed that beautiful, hot look, the one that said, "_I want you_," the one that made her stomach flutter and her blood boil in that delicious way.

"Could I please see it?" His voice could have melted butter.

"No, I'm all pasty white. I'm not hot or beautiful," she shifted towards the French doors and lifted back the curtains to where only a few people were milling about. Some were in swimsuits but most were in running gear or just their plain clothes, she let the curtain fall back; there was nothing out there that would prove her point.

Shane went up behind her and his hand slid over her waist, his fingers travelling over the waist band of the swimsuit.

"I think you're extremely hot. There is no one out there that I am more attracted to."

"It's just chemicals and hormones, Shane," Claire made up some excuse, "ours just match and it's something to do with evolution—" her breath was becoming quick and panicky "—you're just biased."

Shane bent down and took her face in his hands and looked her directly in the eye. Claire sniffled awkwardly. "Damn straight I'm biased. You're beautiful Claire, if anyone tells you otherwise they're insane. Even if that person saying otherwise is you." He kissed her lightly, just a simple closed mouth kiss but to Claire it was healing. She wasn't sure she really bought his words quite yet, but they had instilled perhaps a little more courage.

"Come on, Eve is waiting for us on the beach already." He grabbed her hand, his hands were so rough but so gentle with her own. Not that her hands needed coddling, she had burned herself plenty of times in Myrnin's lab. She wasn't the delicate flower some people liked the pretend she was.

Shane led her out the French doors and on to the beach. The sand was warm between her toes, the sun radiated on to her face warming her up from the outside in. For just a few moments Claire was certain she could forget all the worries that came with Morganville. The beach was such a beautiful place, certainly no harm could come there.

"Nice shirt," Eve said in that sweetly snide way. Claire leaned in to Shane and didn't say anything to Eve. The three walked down, closer to the water where Eve had already set up a blanket and umbrella. A cooler full of food and drinks was beneath the umbrella, along with a bottle of sunscreen.

Eve sat back down under the umbrella, she had discarded her cover up and was wearing a black, 1940's cut swimsuit. Claire wondered why Eve was allowed to wear something that covered so much skin when she couldn't, again she didn't say anything. There was something in Shane's eyes, something that said he wanted to take her back to the bedroom and close the curtains. It reminded her that even though he might have made comments and even flirted with Eve, she was still the one.

She fell back against the sand, next to where Shane was already sitting. When she leaned back the shirt she had thrown over inched up, a small sliver of her stomach now peaked out.

_Claire, don't be ridiculous._ She tried to pep talk herself in to taking the shirt off. _Everyone else is doing it_. She grinned, that was never a good reason to do anything. Claire lifted herself up off the sand and slipped the old t-shirt off. She tossed it in to the sand next to her and leaned back down. Her arm brushed against Shane's bare chest, in her own ridiculous battle with insecurity she had missed seeing Shane taking his shirt off. Oh well, lesson learned.

Claire reached over and grabbed the sunscreen from Eve, and began rubbing it on herself. She noticed Shane's eyes open up slightly and watch her. She blushed, who knew that the beach would bring up so many emotions. So much physical attraction. Claire tried to calm down by remembering what she had learned in an anthropology class and how being attracted to the naked body was just something that helped with survival… that thought didn't help her at all though.

Claire tossed the bottle back and forth before gathering up the courage to turn to Shane and ask for help, "Do you think you could get my back?"

Shane visibly gulped, but he sat up and took the small pink bottle from her hands. The tension was practically tangible and Claire shivered as she turned around and lifted her hair off her back. The cool lotion surprised her before the friction between Shane's hands and Claire's back warmed it up. Shane certainly took his time rubbing the lotion in to her skin, making sure to get under the straps of her swimsuit.

When it was all rubbed in Shane placed kisses that weren't exactly chaste along her neck. "I love you," he whispered before leaning back in to the warm sand. Claire leaned back too, making a pillow out of his arm.

"So, did you use up all your romance points for the month there?" she teased.

He smiled, "Yeah, probably."

For a while, the three soaked up the sun, or rather Claire and Shane soaked up the sun and Eve did her best to avoid it. Claire wondered what the point of going to the beach and avoiding the sun was, she might as well have stayed at the house with Michael.

When Claire rolled over Shane's over arm grabbed her by the waist. He awkwardly pulled her up and over his shoulder. Claire screamed and kicked, "Shane! What are you doing?" When he made his way towards the ocean it didn't take Claire more than a second to put two and two together. "Oh my God, Shane! Don't even think about it, that water is probably cold."

He laughed, "And if you don't get out of the sun you're gonna burn like a lobster. Aren't you supposed to douse things in cold water to make them stop cooking?" Claire groaned, forcing him to watch the Food Network had obviously been a bad idea. She had hoped that it would expand his culinary skills, but so far—

"Oh my God!" Claire screamed as Shane tossed her in to the waist deep water. When she came up she gasped and fought to get her feet on the ground. The water was practically ice cold and her skin was tingling as her blood vessels and nerve endings struggled to adjust. "Oh my God," she pushed Shane but it did little to move him, "I can't believe you did that."

"You look like a drowned rat!" He pushed hair out of her eyes and smiled at her. Claire lunged at him, jumping on to him and trying to swing around, using the force to pull him down. He reached around and supported her from her bottom. She groaned, placing her head in between his shoulder and neck, she couldn't get him in to the water but what she could do was help him get a little handsy. Figures.

Shane brought her around to his front and then ran and dove in to the water. They came up, Claire was sputtering but Shane was relatively fine. He let her down , the ocean was now high enough and strong enough to really push her around and she fell against Shane's chest. He helped her out, helping her walk closer to shore before they were pulled out to the ocean. Once she could stand on her own Claire began to splash Shane, it wasn't much but it was enough to get him back.

When they were tired and out of breath they went back to where Eve was still relaxing in the shade of the umbrella. They dropped themselves on to the blanket, Claire resting on Shane's chest and their legs a complete tangle and totally numb.

"You two are so immature," Eve muttered.

By the time the wet sand on the bottom of their feet had dried and flaked off the three were more than ready to go back to the beach house. They had emptied the cooler of all its food and Claire was starting to feel the familiar sensation of a burned nose. She was pretty sure Shane wasn't going to think that was sexy.

After they had all showered they went downstairs to meet up with Michael.

"We _need_ to get more bathrooms in that house… couldn't we turn that secret room in to one?" Shane ran his fingers through his wet hair. It was still dripping down his neck so Claire threw her own towel at him. He nudged her playfully but took the towel and ran it over his hair.

"Let's go out for dinner tonight," Eve suggested. She was in sweats but she still made them look chic, Claire's sweats (which were really just ones that she had pilfered from Shane) just made her look frumpy. They were comfortable though and for Claire (and the tinge of pink that was on her shoulder) that was what was important.

"As long as it's not in this house," Michael said. It looked like he had kept himself pretty occupied by turning one of the closets in the basement in to a recording studio, but he still looked like he was getting a little bit of cabin fever.

"There's a diner down the road, I think. There's sea food and stuff. I was thinking we could have a bonfire tonight, roast marshmallows and stuff."

"Oh, we could do s'mores. I love those. I don't think I've had those since I was in Girl Scouts," Eve smiled, tucking her feet under her.

Claire frowned, as did Michael and Shane. "I don't know what makes me more curious, the fact that Morganville had a Girl Scout troop or the fact that you were in it."

Eve pursed her lips, "Well, it wasn't a _very good_ Girl Scout troop. Were you a Girl Scout, in Quiet Town, USA or wherever you grew up?"

"No," Claire shook her head, she had always been far too busy with school and reading to be a Girl Scout, "the Catholic school I went to use to have bonfires though."

"Wait," Shane said dramatically, "you were a Catholic school girl?" His eyes were wide and she could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

"Yeah…" Claire said hesitantly. She hadn't really talked about her high school days, it was all behind her and there was really no point. She was certain her high school wasn't nearly as interesting as theirs had been.

"Like with the uniform and everything?"

"Yeah…" From the corner of her eye Claire saw Eve and Michael trying to hide their laughter. "What?"

"Do you still have the uniform?" Shane asked her, his voice was low and husky. "My birthday is coming up and—"

"What does the religious affiliation and dress code of my high school have to do with your birthday?"

Shane smiled at her endearingly. He brushed the wet hair that was escaping her pony tail back from her face. "I just think uniforms are very, very sexy. Even with that sunburn," he tapped the tip of her nose, too lightly to cause her any pain. She turned away, slightly embarrassed.

"Okay," Eve said loudly, "before this goes too far let's change the subject. The sun is about to go down, Michael do you want to go to the store with me?"

"Yeah, sure," he got up off the couch and followed her up the stairs.

Claire turned back to Shane, "So, why do you like school uniforms so much?"

Shane laughed and brought her in close, kissing her temple, "If you have to ask you're too young to know."

Claire wrinkled her nose. "You know, I'm really sick of that excuse. I'm almost eighteen. I can almost vote. I've saved all your asses multiple times. I don't think I'm too young to do anything. You certainly didn't think I was too young to do that thing a few nights ago…" she teased. The age difference between her and Shane, and her and Eve and Michael, had always been a sore spot for her, mostly because she always got the short end of the stuck.

Well, Shane probably got the short end of the stick too when he was too afraid to have sex with her. She had never really thought about what exactly had been going through his head at the time. She knew that he hadn't wanted her to regret anything, or get in trouble because of their age difference. She was also certain that he was afraid of her father, because come on, she was her father's only daughter.

"Could you just humor me?"

"When have I ever humored you, Shane?" she smiled up at him, cheekily, "Why would I start now?"

**AN: **This is turning more in to an exploration of Shane and Claire's relationship. I like it, I certainly want more of that in the books. Should be about two chapters left, I'll try and post another by the end of the weekend. If you want to see something in the story review and tell me!


	9. Chapter 9

**Vampire Vacation**

**Chapter Nine**

Claire, Eve, Michael and Shane were practically swimming in the sand. They were laid out, head to toe in a circle, fingers combing through the sand as the flames of the bonfire flickered high above them. Their stomachs were full of fresh seafood, followed by marshmallows and melted chocolate. Eve and Michael hadn't been able to find graham crackers at the store so they had used the chocolate pieces as the sandwich bits, not only was it messy but it led to a much higher consumption rate of chocolate.

Shane was tugging on Claire's feet, making her laugh. Intermittently he would kiss the arch of them, making her shiver. She was falling asleep though, whether it was from the exhausting day or because she was going comatose she wasn't entirely sure.

"What time is it?" she asked, breaking the silence. With the clouds shifting over the faint stars and crescent moon it was hard to depict time. She had listened as the groups of people celebrating one thing or another on the beach had disbanded. When the rowdy group of college students had left she knew it was getting late.

"Late," Eve yawned and sat up.

Michael looked at his watch, "It's almost three." Michael of course, didn't look very tired but that was what being a vampire did for you.

"You know," Shane sat up and scooped Claire's feet on to his lap, "this is probably the first time in a long time, maybe ever, that I've been out at night and not been afraid for my life."

Claire rubbed at her eyes and turned over so her head was in Shane's lap, "You could get a parasite from the sand, if that makes you feel more at ease. You know, more at home. It could burrow its way in to your skin as you walk back—or it could even be already burrowed in to you and wreaking havoc on you. You could be dead by morning."

Shane, Michael and Eve looked at Claire like she was crazy. She just shrugged. "I watched a documentary on it."

"Okay, your TV time is now going to be monitored," Eve said. She stood up, then looked down at her bare feet. "Hey, Michael, wanna carry me back? It would be very romantic."

He looked at her with a dry eye, Michael wasn't buying in to Claire's horror stories but he was also a vampire which probably made him immune to parasites. Claire wasn't sure, she would have to ask Myrnin once she got back.

Michael got up, but instead of picking Eve up and cradling her like Claire expected, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Eve screamed and began to kick, her struggle made little of a difference to Michael though. "Oh my God, Michael! If you do not put me down right now I will not be giving you—"

Claire didn't hear the rest of what Eve was threatening because Shane had covered her ears with his hands. Once he pulled away she looked up at him, "Treating me like I'm innocent again?"

"I live in Morganville, let me have my delusions." He kissed her then got up from the sand and pulled Claire up.

"I could get used to this," Shane mumbled. Claire was wrapped up in the blankets, Shane's chest warming her back.

"Imagine how boring it would be… days in the sun, nights out on the beach. No vampires to kill, maybe a rogue jelly fish or two… things would be so easy."

"Are you going to say 'easy isn't always good'?" Shane's hands were roaming, but it didn't seem that he wanted to start anything. It felt like he was doing it without thinking about which made Claire feel giddy and content all at once. The idea that they were this inseparable unit was something so indescribable to her.

"Well, easy isn't always good… but, sometimes I wonder if we deserve it. I mean, are we still going to be fighting the bad guys when we're in our thirties?" Claire turned around to face Shane, he was still sleepy looking but his full attention was on her, except for that wondering hand, "I don't want that for me, Shane. I want—I mean, I know I'm only seventeen but I want a family and a job and I want to go out at night and not have to be scared for my life," she rushed out the last part, she remembered how Shane had reacted at the thought of children last time.

"I—I want that too," his voice croaked, Claire wasn't sure if it was because of how early it was or because he was emotional. Shane didn't really get emotional though. "We'll figure it out. There will be peace in Morganville again, or we'll get out. One day at a time."

"You go to AA meetings?" Claire joked, just to ease the tension. The thought of leaving Morganville scared her. She had only been there for a short period of time and yet it felt so much like home. It was scary how she adapted so fast.

Shane growled and flipped over on her, straddling her waist. "Are you making fun of me?" He bent down and kissed her.

"Maybe just a little. You gonna teach me a lesson?"

He nipped at her bottom lip. "Maybe."

"You two look like cats that got the cream," Eve said, with a sly smile.

Claire didn't say anything, she just grabbed two of the toaster waffles from off the table. They had set up a makeshift kitchen in the basement so they didn't have to cover all the upstairs windows for Michael. Thanks to their lack of cooking skills a coffee maker, a microwave and a toaster was really all they needed.

"What's on the schedule today?"

"Not a whole bunch," Eve sat next to Michael who was taking his breakfast from a plastic sports bottle.

Claire looked over at the cuckoo clock on the wall, it was well past noon. "How late did we stay out last night?"

"Late. Three or four. It was nice though; being out at night and not fearing for our lives," Michael said before tipping back his sports bottle.

"Who would have thought that you could actually do that," said Eve. Claire realized that this had to be incredibly weird for Eve; this was the first time she had ever been out of Morganville. And yet she was staying in with Michael right now, had Claire been in her position she wasn't sure she would be able to do that. She'd probably leave the house, run around the town and not come back until she was dragged. _But maybe if Shane… _she couldn't finish the thought. It was okay for Michael to be a vampire, but Claire knew Shane would self-destruct if he became one.

After they finished breakfast, Shane and Michael worked hard at beating each other at the zombie game Michael had brought.

"Did you have to bring the console?" Claire asked. She hadn't hoped they would leave the game at home, but only because she hadn't realized they would think about bringing it.

"Hey, I'm stuck in this house while the sun is out. You guys get to soak up some vitamin D, while I have to hope vampires can live without it—"

"You don't actually soak up vitamin D," Claire interrupted. Eve, Shane and Michael all shot her a look.

"You're being awkward again," Eve said gently.

"I was just correcting him," Claire mumbled.

Like the day before, the three that weren't so allergic to the sun (though Claire's face was still a little pink from yesterday) went out to lounge around. Eve had picked up a Frisbee at the store for them throw around. "I saw it on TV once." Claire had no coordination though and once Eve started sweating she sat out, after only a few minutes Shane tossed it over to some kids.

"That was nice," Claire said, leaning against Shane's shoulder when he sat down next to her. Shane shrugged as if to say "no big deal" he was far too cool to be nice to little kids. He stole their candy and tipped over their ice cream cones. Claire smiled, she knew under the tough Morganville exterior he had developed that he had a heart-of-gold. She thought of it as her little secret.

"You know," Eve said after a while, "I saw this cool little club when I was going to store. I think we should go."

Claire looked over at Eve, she was sitting pretty again under the umbrella. Her swimsuit for today was cut the same as the one from before, but instead of black it was bright vixen red. "A club? Like dancing? Partying? You know we have really bad luck with that."

Eve rolled her eyes, "But this isn't _Morganville_," she whispered, just in case anyone was listening.

"Let's just go," Shane nudged Claire, "It'll be fun. Dancing, drinks for me, a short skirt for you—" Claire rolled her eyes and Shane held up his hands to fend her off "—okay, you can wear whatever you want. Jeans, sweat pants, your pajamas. Whatever makes you comfortable!"

Claire pursed her lips, "I wouldn't wear sweats."

"Oh, thank God."

"You know," Eve piped in, reminding the couple that she was there too, "you're not doing such a good job at the sweet, devoted boyfriend thing right now, Shane. Maybe you should ask Michael for some tips."

"Michael's sweet? He sucks blood in order to live."

"You should see what else he does with his mouth."

Shane gagged, "I'd rather not."

Eve frowned, "Yeah, never mind. I'm not in to voyeurism." Eve got up and picked up her bag, "In fact, I'm gonna go hang out with him. I think you two might have some talking to do. Feel free to not come back for a while."

"Oh, ew," Shane said. Claire just rolled her eyes and waved good-bye to Eve.

"You wanna go for a walk?" Claire asked him, standing up and dusting sand off her back.

Shane raised his eyebrow.

"It'll be sweet," Claire prodded. Eve was right, he really hadn't been doing such a great job as of late. Shane relented and stood up behind her, grabbing her hand and following her along the water line. They figured that since it was a private beach their stuff would be safe enough.

"So, what did you and your grandmother talk about? You never told me."

"I know, I said I didn't really want to talk about it."

"Not even to me?"

"Certainly not to you," Claire was indignant. What Cee Cee had said to her yesterday made her stomach rumble and gave her a bad taste in her mouth.

"So it was about me?"

Claire did an about-face. "Why do you say that?"

"Because if it wasn't about me then you wouldn't have a problem telling me," Shane stopped walking and Claire turned back to face him. Her hand slipped out of his and she crossed them against her chest, "Also, that reaction. What'd she say?"

This time Claire relented. "She just thinks that you might be getting in the way of my studies. And she wants to meet you." When Claire said it out loud she realized how not big of a deal it sounded, but since Claire knew Cee Cee she knew just how big of a deal it really was. Shane and Cee Cee meeting would lead to nothing good, and Claire wanted to protect Shane from that.

"Well, then let's meet. I mean, I already met your parents, if your grandmother is a part of your life then I'll meet her. For you." Shane really hated the meeting of relatives.

"But, see," Claire stumbled, was there even a way to say this without offending him? "I don't want you to meet her." Of course there wasn't.

Shane squinted at her, "What do you mean?"

"My grandmother is just really… old-fashion and opinionated and snobby and she's not going to like you and she's paying for my college and I'm scared of what she'll do if she meets you."

"Why won't she like me?"

"Because she's crazy, Shane!"

"So she doesn't like meeting new people?"

"No…"

"So, it's just me? She'd be fine with meeting Eve or Michael?" Claire floundered around for an answer. The Goth and the musician.

"No…"

"Is there something wrong with us?"

"I don't think so. Isn't that what matters?" Claire knew her grandmother wouldn't like her friends; they were different, they were ragamuffins, they were rebels. Claire loved them and that's what mattered to Claire.

"If who we are isn't an issue with you then you shouldn't have an issue introducing me, or all of us, to your grandmother," Shane reasoned. Shane started walking again, faster this time. Claire started after him but he turned around, "Don't follow me." His face was tight and his tone even more so. Claire would have preferred that he lashed out at her, let her have. This reserved Shane never led to anywhere good. In fact, she hadn't seen him like this since his father had turned.

Claire didn't follow him. Instead, she stood in the sand, her feet sinking further in as each wave crashed in to her. She stared after him, waiting for him to turn around, come back and explain everything, tell her sorry. Claire crinkled her nose as if she smelled something awful. The stench was her though.

Claire was so smart when it came to books, but there were still things where she fell short. Common sense was certainly one of them.

Shane was too far in the distance to run after, but she would be able to talk to him once he got back to the beach house. And that would be better because he would have calmed down by then.

A breeze came up and Claire shivered, she wrapped her arms around herself, both because she was cold and because she was lonely. She walked quickly back to where the blanket and umbrella, packed them up and took them back to the house.

"Everything okay?" Eve asked. She was in the kitchen, painting her nails a dark shade of red.

Claire bit her lip, she didn't want to say it. If she did, it would be real. "I think Shane and I had a fight." Eve's face paled and she set down her nail polish.

"Tell me everything."

"It's my fault," she started, and then it all came out in long sentences that ran together. She was crying at the end, her throat hurt from the talking and her chest ached. "What if—what if I screwed it up? What if we're done?" Eve hugged her, letting her continue talking. "Oh my God. I don't know what I'm going to do if he breaks up with me! I never thought I was going to become this kind of girl, Eve. I love Shane though, I just want to protect him." Claire pulled back, waiting for Eve to tell her what to do.

"What?" Eve asked.

"Can't you be your usual mother hen? Help me out, Eve! I don't know what to do!"

Eve smiled, sweet and serene even beyond the Goth make up. "You already know what to do. Shane loves you, he won't break up with you after this. You two just need to talk. If you really have no problems with Shane then you won't have any problems introducing him to your grandmother. If your grandmother cuts you off or whatever, well first off that's messed up, but secondly we'll cross that bridge later."

"I already know what to do?" Claire asked, making sure she heard her right. "But I don't."

"Shane told you. Yes you do." And that was all she said on the matter. She turned back to her nails, "Are you still going to go to the club tonight? A little music and dancing will make you feel better."

Claire didn't have anything better to do, and she guessed she deserved a good party without interruption from vampires.

Claire did some homework before digging through her luggage for something appropriate for a club. When she realized she had nothing there was a knock at the door. Claire starred at it, waiting for it to open. It was either Eve or Shane, with the sun coming through the huge window over the front door and shining down the hallway there was no way it was Michael. Shane didn't need to knock, he was using the room too. _Oh God, _Claire thought, _maybe he's getting his stuff. _Claire wasn't sure which would be worse. A long and awkward night together, or a long and awkward night apart.

"Claire?" It was Eve.

"Yeah, come in."

"Shane called. He's going to meet us there."

"Oh," was all Claire could come up with. What were they going to do once they were there? Were they going to dance? Would they want to dance together? Claire didn't want to dance by herself, she wanted to dance with Shane pressed up close to him. Claire shivered and tried to remember that Eve was in the room.

"Here," she handed her a bundle of clothes, "I figured you would have anything. Don't worry, it's not too bad. Just a little something to get Shane's attention," Claire started to interrupt, she really didn't want to be uncomfortable, "Don't worry," she smiled and then left the room.

Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad.

Claire pulled the clothe on, not looking too closely at them and then went to look in the full-length mirror. Claire was a little surprised, it wasn't half bad. A slim black dress that she could bend down in but still managed to show some leg, the straps of the dress were thin and sat just off her shoulders. Claire supposed that this would be enough to give her a hand up in trying to talk with Shane again.

By the time Claire had figured out what to do with her hair (it was at such an awkward length) and get the mascara where it needed to be the sun was low enough that they would be able to leave.

Michael and Eve were waiting on the couch for her, Michael looked like he was dressed normally but Eve had taken the chance to dress up and ran with it. A lacey black top and incredibly short puffy skirt. With her long black hair, dramatic cat eyes make-up and pale skin Eve rocked the outfit.

"You look great," Michael said, offering his arm. He might have been a blood-sucking vampire, but he was always a gentleman.

They walked down the road to the club where they all showed ID. Claire got her hand stamped and a wrist band. "We're gonna do a sweep of the club at midnight, that's your curfew."

Claire huffed and then frowned at Michael and Eve once they were in the club. "Why didn't you guys get tagged?" She itched at the rough, plastic band around her wrist. It reminded her of the freaky metal one she had had ages ago.

"IDs," Eve waved hers at Claire before putting it back in her purse.

"But…" Claire lowered her voice, "you aren't twenty-one."

Eve shrugged, "That's not what the ID says."

Claire looked at Michael and he shrugged as well.

Before Claire could pout too much Eve grabbed her wrist and pulled her on to the dance floor, "Come on, I love this song!"

Claire listened to the overplayed pop number, "You hate this song!"

"Claire, you need to learn the rules of dancing. The song doesn't matter, it's all about the beat." At that, she rolled her eyes and began swaying to the hard beat, her hands up in the air. Claire felt embarrassed to be next to her, not because she was standing out but because she looked so amazing dancing. Claire knew she could never look that hot.

"Come on," Michael said, he grabbed her hand and began dancing awkwardly with her. He twirled her back and forth and spun her around, ignoring the rhythm of the songs playing and what people around them were doing. Soon enough, Claire was laughing and she didn't even care that she was terrible at dancing or that she wasn't dancing with Shane.

When a slow song came on Michael pulled her close. Claire stiffened, "Don't you want to dance with Eve?"

"There'll be other songs."

She loosened up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "Are you just dancing with me because you feel bad?"

"No, I'm dancing with you because I see what Shane is doing to you and I have to make up slack. I'd hate for you to think we're all bad guys."

"That's sweet," Claire said softly. Had Michael been human he wouldn't have heard, but he wasn't human. Claire didn't mind that he had heard though. She rested her head on his shoulder and swayed with him.

A messy head of hair caught Claire's eye, then the wrinkled t-shirt she had thrown on the bed earlier. Shane. A beer was in his hand, and a—oh God. A beautiful blonde girl was wrapped in his arms, her tan was real but the low-cut white top showed that her, ahem, assets certainly were not. Was that what Shane wanted her to be?

She pulled back from Michael. "I don't feel well. I'm going to go home."

"You want me to walk you—" he had turned around and seen the sight that Claire had. "Claire, he's just drunk—"

"No," her voice cracked. "I—uhm—the music is loud and you go dance with Eve. I'm just going to go to bed."

She pulled away from Michael and he must have let her because she knew he certainly could have held her back. She ran past Eve, who was staring at her with sad eyes. Then past Shane, she barely saw his reaction. She didn't want to.

The air was wet and foggy when she ran back. By the time she got back to the beach house she was cold and sweaty and terribly out of breath. She looked for the hidden key in the flower plant, then under door mat, then the mail box. "Where the fuck is it?" She finally tried the door, it was open. "God, Shane you're so freaking stupid." She slammed the door and threw her shoes across the room.

"Hello Claire," a calm male voice spoke out in the darkness. Claire ran her hand against the wall, trying to flip the light switch. Instead of the switch, she met a cool, dry hand. "My son should know better than to leave the door open, you have no idea who is going to come in to your house while you're gone."

**AN: **dun dun dun dunnnnnnn. c: Probably another chapter and an epilogue, or two more chapters… or one really long chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Thanks so much to JittaBug-C who kindly suggested I get my stuff in gear and post a new chapter. :) You're a doll. | Also, this chapter has not been read through. Sorry, I'm exhausted and have other things I should be doing.

Vampire Vacation

Chapter Ten

Michael had offered to walk her back. Why hadn't she accepted? Claire hated to admit it, but Michael would have been able to protect her. Had Frank Collins been human she wouldn't have been that worried about protecting herself. A swift lamp to the head and he could have been down long enough for her to run back to the club for back up. But Frank was a vampire, which meant that there wasn't anything she could really do to take him out, at least not right now while she was weaponless. Everything they had brought; the holy water, the stakes, all of it was upstairs and there was no way Frank was going to let her get up there.

"What do you want?"

"What everyone wants, Claire."

She packed up against the door, hand twisting on the knob, ready to open it and run. Running wasn't her best option, but it really seemed like it was her only option.

"What does everyone want?"

"Power."

"Power?" Claire twisted the knob and listened to the door click open.

Frank rushed at her, slamming both of his hands on to the door on either side of her head. The door clicked shut. Frank smiled gently and reached over and locked the door's dead bolt.

"Sit down," he offered her a chair at the kitchen table, still smiling. When Claire didn't budge he walked over and grasped her arm and pulled her over. He wasn't using vampire strength, but it still hurt her. He pushed her down in to the chair and sat across from her. "Do you want some water or anything?"

Claire didn't say anything.

"Just trying to be polite."

"Why do you want power? I can't give you that. I'm powerless."

"That's where you're wrong. Let me start at the beginning though. When I was turned I had a few decisions to make. I could kill myself, certainly that's what my human self would have wanted. I didn't though. It took a little while to accept what had happened to me, but at the end of the day I realized I could make the best of it." Frank got up and started walking around, Claire stayed seated but made sure she could always see where he was. If he was going to make any sudden moves Claire wanted to know about it first. "I didn't want to be a vampire on the bottom in Morganville. A bottom feeder," he spit the word out. "I don't want to be one of Amelie's little minions. I want to be the ruler. I have a following, those who don't believe in Amelie's silly ideals. Those who know that vampires shouldn't have to live by donated blood." Frank was behind Claire now and he dragged a finger along her neck, tracing over the scar there. "There are some of us who believe that we should be able to feed freely," he whispered in to her ear.

"Th—then why are you talking to me?" Claire asked quietly. She wanted to scream and cry and yell, but Frank was dangerous and so very close to her neck. "I can't do anything. I'm sorry."

"That's what you think." Frank went into the kitchen and Claire took her chance. She got up from the chair and bolted for the door. Frank yelled behind her and before Claire could even unlock the door Frank grabbed her and picked her up. Claire began to kick and scream, but Frank was too fast and strong for her to much of anything before he put her back down in the chair.

"Make one sound and I'll kill you before your little friends can even try to rescue you." Claire took a deep and shaky breath. Keeping her down with one hand he grabbed for the rope with the other. Claire hadn't even seen that.

"When Amelie hears about this you're going to regret this so much!" Claire threatened him. With the thick rope digging in to her wrists there wasn't much else she could do.

"What's Amelie going to do without her little Claire though? Without you she can't do too much, she'll have lost her human liaison."

"I'm not that important. You can kill me. She won't care! She'll probably be happy that you got rid of me, she can stop saving my ass all the time." Claire hoped the reverse psychology would work, but she wasn't sure; she was a science major not a psych major.

"I think that's what I like best about you, Claire, you are so humble and modest. You really don't understand how important you really are to her, do you?" Frank bent down against, breathing in beside her neck. Claire's stomach rolled and she felt like she was going to be sick. "Maybe if I just took a little taste." Claire jerked around in her chair, trying to turn to face him, to as least see what he was doing. She couldn't get around though and she didn't want to tip the chair over.

She could hear him pull something from his back pocket, and then the sharp click of something metal opening. From the corner of her eye she could see the glint of a metal pocket knife. Claire stopped breathing. Was he going to slit her throat? That wasn't a logical way for a vampire to kill someone, the blood would drain far too quickly. Especially from the carotid artery.

Claire gritted her teeth, ready for the quick pain. It'd probably be relatively fast. She'd bleed out fast enough to lose consciousness. She'd probably feel very little.

Frank pressed the blade against her collar bone. Claire paused, what was he doing? With a sharp twist down he drew a red line down to her shoulder. Claire screamed out.

"Claire!"

It was Shane at the door. Hands pounded at the door, turned the knob but the dead bolt refused to give away.

"You guys!" Claire screamed back to them. Frank pulled back, he seemed unsure of what to do next.

The window next to the door shattered and Michael stepped through, clearing the glass for the Shane and Eve. He surveyed the scene and paled at the sight of Claire's bleeding shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Claire struggled again, trying to get the ropes on her wrist to loosen up. They didn't loosen though and the movement pulled at the open wound.

"Frank," Michael walked over slowly, waiting to make sure Frank wasn't going to do something rash.

Shane and Eve walked through the window frame.

"Dad," Shane said, surprised to find him bent over Claire's neck ready to taste her.

"Oh shit," Eve said, she obviously hadn't suspected that it was going to be this bad when they got home.

Michael stopped a few feet away from Claire and Frank, he didn't want to seem like a threat to Frank. At the end of the day, vampires ran on animal instincts and they wouldn't fight you if they didn't think you were a threat. It was when they went with their human instincts that things got screwed up.

"Think about what you do, Michael. I've known you for a very long time and we are very much in the same position. Make your decisions wisely and perhaps I will allow you to live, maybe even let your girlfriend live to. I could give a position when I rule Morganville. You could help me make it what it really is meant to be."

"I don't want any part in Morganville politics," Michael said harshly.

"That's too bad." Then Frank rushed at Michael, taking out his strongest opponent first. Claire wasn't sure how this would end; Michael was an older vampire but not by much, on the other hand Frank was older, bigger and had far more experience in fighting, even when he was human. It seemed to be a very fair fight, which gave Shane and Eve time to run over and untie Claire from the ropes.

Frank rushed back over and tried to take the three humans down, but Michael pulled him back. Shane grabbed Claire's hand, holding it tightly. Even in the midst of things, Claire felt just a little better. It was no use though because as Michael kept Frank busy Eve, Shane and Claire had to devise a plan to take Frank down.

Claire turned to Eve, "My phone is upstairs, get it and call Amelie." Eve briefly looked like she wanted to ask Claire if she was okay but instead she ran up the stairs to the bedroom. Then Claire turned to Shane. There were a million things she really wanted to say to him, but at the moment none of them mattered because if they didn't get out of their and find some way to take Frank down, or even kill him, she wasn't going to get a chance to say those things.

"Where are the stakes?"

"Upstairs," Shane gestured with his hand in the direction that Eve had gone. Claire rolled her eyes. In the Glass house, they had weapons hidden everywhere. Kitchen drawers, book shelves, coat racks. They even thought of dispersing what they had brought with them throughout the house though. Honestly, when Claire had packed them she hadn't even thought that she would need them.

Claire and Shane ran upstairs, bumping in to Eve on the way up who sounded like she was arguing with a secretary of some sort. Claire and Shane grabbed the bag that they had shoved weapons in, grabbing a bunch of them. Claire wasn't sure how much longer Michael would be able to hold Frank off.

When they got back down stairs the place looked back a battlefield. The sofa was torn up and turned on its side, the pictures on the wall had all crashed to the floor. The curtains had been ripped down, the TV had been crashed in to and the bookshelf full of her grandmother's antique books had been pushed against the back wall.

"Michael!" Claire called out and tossed a stake at him. The moment that he turned around though had given Frank enough time to overtake him and push him on the ground. Frank began to twist the arm that Michael had the stake in and turn it towards Michael, straight towards his chest. Michael fought back, but he was getting tired and Frank really did have the upper hand.

Eve came down the stairs and saw what was happening. She screamed, pushed past Shane and Claire and went straight for Frank, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on for dear life as he tried to fling her off. The struggle allowed for Michael to escape though. Shane tossed him a stake this time and then both Claire and Shane went to either side of the room, ready to try and take a stab at Frank if he got passed Michael.

Once certain that everyone was ready, Eve let go of Frank, falling to the floor with a loud "oomph."

When Michael rushed and Frank he pushed him down again. They rolled around until finally Frank was on top, pushing the broken leg of the coffee table over his neck, choking him. Claire ran, planning to do what Eve had done except with her stake. Before she was half way there though Shane had pushed past her, pushing her in to the back of the couch. Stake raised high, Shane ran for Frank.

Just in time, Frank turned around and backhanded his son, causing him to slam in to the wall. "You think you can kill me?" Frank asked. "Do you even have the guts? Do you even have the strength? I don't think you do." Shane shakily got to his feet. "You were always a disappointment for me, _son," _he said bitingly. "I offered Michael here a spot on my team for taking over Morganville, but I don't think I'm going to be offering you the same thing. I don't think you would be worth it."

Claire could see that Shane was trying hard not to react to what his father was saying, but she knew better. Shane stood up, almost eye to eye with his father. "I wouldn't take the offer anyway." Frank lunged for Shane again, going for his throat, but just in time Shane held up the stake and closed his eyes as it plunged in to his father's chest.

Frank dropped to the ground and Shane looked away, his face was paler than Eve's ever was and he looked like he was going to be sick. Making sure to not look at the dead body at their feet Claire walked over and held out her arms towards Shane, she just wanted to walk him away. Let Michael figure out what needed to be done. Maybe Eve had gotten through to Amelie.

Shane disregarded her though, pushing her hands away. "Just leave me alone."

Shane had done this before. When his father had been turned Shane had nearly completely shut down. She had sat next to him on the floor for hours, not saying anything. Not even moving. She could recall how hard it had been, not the sitting motionlessly next to someone who stunk like a prison cell, but how hard it had been to feel like she was losing Shane. Now she was feeling it all over again, and it wasn't any easier the second time around.

She bit her lip as he walked to the backroom where they were staying. They had a lot to talk about, and Claire would have loved to go and talk to him about everything, about her parents and Cee Cee, but now definitely wasn't the time. She wasn't sure letting their argument continue to simmer was the best idea either. She stayed away from him though, turning around to face Even and Michael. Michael was standing over the motionless Frank, and Eve had just gotten off the phone.

"She's pissed," Eve said, tossing the phone to Claire. She caught and put it in her pocket. "She's sending someone and said that she wants to see you when we get back. Claire, what did you have to do to get us out?"

"Nothing," Claire said calmly. If she was calm, perhaps they wouldn't realize that she was lying.

"He's dead," Michael said after a little while, nudging the body. "Well, dead again."

"It's going to count as self-defense, right?" Claire shifted closer and sat down on the couch's arm.

"Depends on who they send here. Everyone knows that he has a grudge against him. They can say we faked the entire scene," Eve grumbled and sat down next to Claire, fluffing up her skirt.

"Don't think like that," Michael said.

"What?" Eve asked. "It's not like the vampires are working for us, they're working against us. You know, Frank was right, I'm sure there are tons of vamps in Morganville that would love to kill us off. The brainiac, the good vampire and their two sidekicks."

"You're not a sidekick," Claire said. Eve was an integral part of the group, not some cast off.

"Yes, I am. I'm okay with that though, because, let's face it; the sidekicks get better outfits," she crossed her arms. She might have been making jokes but she wasn't feeling very trivial at the moment. "I'm just scared. I thought being away from Morganville would be safer, but no matter what we're screwed."

"We'll be okay," Michael tried to assure her, "There are people that know that Shane hated his father, but there are also a lot of people who know why he hated his father. Amelie, included. Things will work out, they always do."

Eve got up and walked to the kitchen. "You know, that's such bullshit! Sure things work out, until they don't."

Michael walked over and started talking to her, quietly, words that weren't meant for Claire. Awkwardly she looked between the body and them; what'd she have to lose? She got up and went to the back of the house where the bedroom was. Shane, however, wasn't in it. She frowned. Shane was known for sulking, but running away? He hadn't done that since he left Morganville, he had come back to Morganville but there was always a first time for everything. If he ran away, maybe he wouldn't come back this time. He always talked about running away from Morganville and not coming back, but he always said that they only way he would leave Morganville was if Claire was going with her. Claire wasn't sure if things had changed now though, now that they were fighting.

The French doors were open, sand blowing in. A storm must have been coming in. _How poetic_, Claire thought. Claire grabbed a sweater off the bed and went out on to the beach, making sure the French doors were shut tight behind her. Cleaning up the house tomorrow was going to be hard enough without having to deal with cleaning the sand and rain water out of the master bathroom.

The sun was down but there was enough light coming from the beach houses lining the beach, and off in the distance she could a Shane shaped speck. Quickly, as quickly as she could in the soft sand, she walked towards him. He was standing still, staring out at the choppy waves. When she reached him he hadn't moved. She walked up right behind him, close enough that he must have felt something because he turned around.

"Claire," he looked and sounded exhausted.

"Please don't tell me to leave, it kills me."

Shane gaped at here. "I just _killed_ my father, Claire, I want to be alone for a little bit. There's nothing wrong with that."

"You shouldn't have to be alone right now, Shane."

He glared at her, he had never looked so angry, certainly not towards Claire. "I _want_ to be alone."

Claire tried to stop from crying, she turned around quickly and started to walk off. She heard Shane cuss behind her, "I'm sorry, Claire."

Claire didn't even want to turn around though, she just kept walking back towards the house. The physical chaos of the living room was a lot better than the current emotional chaos between her and Shane right now.

Eve and Michael were sitting down at the kitchen now. Eve had warmed up a bottle for Michael and was currently stirring hot chocolate in to her own mug. "You want one?" she asked when Claire sat down at the table.

"No thank you." Claire rested her head on the table and closed her eyes, she couldn't sleep though. "What's going on? Did you get ahold of Amelie?"

"Yeah. She's pissed off, but she's sending someone. They'll be here before the sun comes up, apparently she has "resources" here."

"Of course she does. So, what do we do for now? Are we just going to sit here?" Claire looked over at the body, there was certainly no way she was going to be able to sit in the same room as that thing for very much longer.

"Maybe we should just lock up really well and go down stairs?" Eve offered, looking towards the broken window. Claire shivered, suddenly realizing why she had been cold.

"Yeah, I guess." Claire got up without saying anything else, she went to the drawers in the kitchen and tried to find some duct tape. Michael grabbed her arm as she walked by and she stopped but didn't look back at him.

"Shane just needs space. It will be okay between the two of you."

"I know," Claire shrugged. She knew that he needed space. When things were hard for Shane he went away to be by himself, he didn't run to someone for comfort and what bothered Claire most was that he didn't run to Claire for comfort. Claire had hoped that Shane had known, especially after he had gotten out of jail, that Claire was always there for him. Through thick and thin, Claire didn't care. Shane wasn't like that though and there were a lot of things about Shane that she just couldn't change. "It doesn't stop it from hurting." Claire pulled away and went in to the kitchen.

The three worked quickly to shut the house up, covering the broken window and making sure all the blinds were shut. They had to throw a blanket over the front window because the curtains had been torn down during the fight. Michael took the remnants of the curtains and threw them over Frank's body.

It was three in the morning by the time they were finished and they were all too tired to say much of anything when they turned the TV on. Eve flipped through the channels without ever waiting to really see what was on each one. Morganville didn't have cable, so perhaps just having so many channels was a novelty for her and not just what was on each channel.

Even though they were tired they were unable to sleep, which was good since just a few moments after they had really settled in a knock sounded from the door upstairs. "I guess that's them," Michael stood up first and waited for the girls to get up before going upstairs.

"I hope they aren't too scary," Eve said.

"They're vampires," Claire said, "What exactly do you want?"

"Hey," Michael said, faking offense, but his heart really wasn't in to it.

"You're an exception, sweetie," Eve patted his cheek and they all went upstairs.

As if he perfectly timed it Shane walked through the door and met them as they went to the door. They didn't say anything. Michael stepped forward, even tired he was still the one who was most likely to be able to defend them against whoever was on the other side of the door. Friend of Amelie or not, the vampire on the other side was most likely not a friend to them.

The vampire on the porch wasn't extremely fearsome looking, in fact, he looked more irritated than anything. While he wasn't fearsome, an irritated vampire wasn't something they wanted in their house either. They didn't have much of a choice though.

"I'm Langston," he said with a slight drawl. Michael introduced them but Langston cut him off, "Let's just get this over with. Help me with the body and then tell me what happened."

Eve, Shane and Claire righted up the furniture while Michael and Langston wrapped the body up and took it to the vampire-proofed car. Shane and Eve sat on either sides of the couch, leaving Claire the middle. She wasn't sure if she should take it though. If she sat next to him she might want to lean over, hold his hand, brush against him or something. Shane seemed to be there only because he knew he was needed there, if he wasn't there that would create more of a hassle for the other three.

Claire realized that if she sat on the other couch she would either have to sit next to Langston or have Langston sit next to Eve and Shane, and that wasn't fair to them. Especially Shane, he was already so hesitant around vampires.

They waited for the two vampires to come back, Eve leaned against the arm of the couch and closed her eyes while Claire brought her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. Shane just sat still.

Finally, the two others walked in and sat down on the small couch.

"Well, start. I do have things to do," Langston said impatiently. Michael explained the story very quickly.

"Self-defense? He was threatening you?"

"Yes, he had her tied to a chair," Eve rolled her eyes.

"It wouldn't be the first time someone had faked a crime scene in order to just kill a vampire. You all think you're vigilantes. Amelie told me you have a bit of a grudge against Frank Collins."

"He wasn't a good guy," Claire whispered.

"Does that justify killing him?"

"It was self-defense," Michael retorted.

"I'll report this back to Amelie and we'll see what she thinks. Make sure this is all cleaned up so no human law enforcements come around to find it."

"Yes sir."

Michael escorted him out the door and said something to him.

"I don't know about you but I'm going to bed for at least a year," Eve got up and stretched.

Claire and Shane said nothing, because while they had just fought a vampire and possibly faced some sort of punishment from Amelie the hardest part was coming up next. Sleeping arrangements. It was even more awkward than their first night here.

Michael followed Eve down to the basement, leaving the couple all by themselves. They both walked very quietly and very slowly to the backroom. Even if they weren't sleeping in the same room they still needed to grab stuff from there.

Instead of just letting Shane do what he wanted though Claire shut the door behind here once they were both in the room. Shane looked up at her, his eyes were red and he looked exhausted. Still, she gritted her teeth together before saying, "We need to talk."

AN: Well, damn. I think that was anti-climactic but there you go. We probably have another chapter or so to go. Maybe a little more, three or four depending on their length. Enjoy and please review, I will love you dearly for doing so.


End file.
